Half-year Results

Excellent first-half performance underpinned by 5% revenue growth over the peak Christmas trading period and strong progress across all strategic growth pillars

Virgin Wines UK plc (AIM: VINO), one of the UK's largest direct-to-consumer online wine retailers, announces its Interim Results for the six months ended 2 January 2026 (the "Period").

Financial highlights

Strategic highlights

Continued execution of the Group's growth strategy, with strong progress made across all four strategic pillars:

Jay Wright, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are delighted to see that the investment in our growth strategy is working. We have delivered a 40% increase in new customers acquired, continued to grow our commercial partnerships, achieved 92% year-on-year growth in our Warehouse Wines value proposition and completed the initial phase of our mobile app development.

We have entered the second half of the year with strong momentum, keeping our foot firmly on the customer acquisition accelerator, with recruitment up 54% year-on-year in January and 83% year-on-year in February. With a strong, debt-free balance sheet and our growth strategy gaining momentum, we will continue to invest in our ambitious plans and remain confident in delivering sustained success."

1 Source: IMRG Online Retail Sales Tracker December '25

Chief Executive Officer's Review

Introduction

I am delighted to say that our growth plan is working well. We have delivered significant market share gains outperforming the online drinks sector substantially, acquired 40% more new customers year-on-year, grown our Warehouse Wines value proposition by 92%, and delivered on the creation of our mobile app to budget. The Commercial channel continues to secure new partnerships as well as building on existing relationships and our whole team remains focused on the disciplined execution across our four strategic growth pillars despite the continuation of a subdued consumer environment, ongoing inflationary pressures and further increases in alcohol duty.

Being the first 6-months of our new growth strategy, we are encouraged by the resilience of our consumer propositions alongside our customers ongoing demand for quality wine, outstanding value and exceptional levels of service.

Financial Overview

Revenue for the six months ended 2 January 2026 increased by 2% year-on-year to £34.7m, with the strength of our Christmas trading supporting a return to growth in our customer base. Over the seven weeks to 26 December 2025, revenue increased by 5% year-on-year and customers acquired increased by 40% over the first half of the year, highlighting the early impact of our increased investment in this area.

Our focus remains on acquiring high-quality customers and continuing to enhance the experience for our existing base. During the Period, our customer metrics remained robust, with the sales retention rate up to 91%, customer retention rose to 87%, the WineBank annual cancellation rate remained low at just 15% and our Trustpilot rating remained 'Excellent' at 4.5/5. WineBank remains the key proposition for our Group, with membership up to 142k at the period end, (growth of 12%) and customer deposits of £7.3m held on their behalf in a separate ring-fenced account.

We have continued to manage costs carefully while investing in the growth strategy. Adjusted EBITDA for the Period was £259k, Loss before tax was £356k, with a gross margin of 27.7%. As forecast, our profitability is down compared to the prior year due to the increased levels of investment in our growth strategy.

As in previous periods, we have remained focused on being the lowest cost to serve in the sector and driving efficiency across the business while maintaining high levels of service.

The Group remains debt free and ended the Period with a strong balance sheet, with gross cash of £17.9m, and net cash of £10.6m (excluding customer deposits). This strength has been maintained alongside returning over £2.7m to shareholders through share buybacks, increased investment in our growth strategies, and growing inventory to protect against the duty rise at the end of January. Inventory at the period end was £7.7m.

Growth strategy progress

Customer Acquisition

Increasing customer acquisition remains central to our strategy and we have continued to develop a more data-led and digitally focused approach across channels. During the Period, customers acquired increased by 40% year-on-year across the Group (75k new customers), while maintaining cost per acquisition broadly in line with the prior year at £15.34 (H125: £14.92) with a 12-month rolling conversion rate of 40.1%. This reflects both the effectiveness of our marketing activity and our continued discipline in investment decisions.

We will continue to refine our channel mix and creative approach to ensure we are acquiring customers efficiently and sustainably, with a strong focus on lifetime value and long-term returns.

Growing our Commercial channel

Our Commercial channel continued to perform strongly, with revenue through Commercial partnerships and corporate gifting delivering year-on-year growth and outperforming expectations at the half year. We remain pleased with the strength of our partnership with Moonpig, which delivered 13% growth during the Period, and we have a healthy pipeline of opportunities to further expand this channel.

The Commercial channel is an important strategic lever for the Group, it diversifies our revenue base, increases brand exposure and supports efficient customer acquisition, while benefiting from lower marketing and operational costs relative to the core business. We remain focused on deepening existing relationships and selectively adding new partnerships that can deliver scalable growth.

Mobile app development

We have delivered the mobile app on schedule and on budget, with a soft launch in early March 2026, prior to a full marketing push later this month. The app will increase engagement with existing customers, allow the Business to communicate through push notifications, reducing the reliance on email marketing, as well as opening up new opportunities to acquire an increased number of new customers. Further development to deliver new features will continue over the coming months.

Drive growth in Warehouse Wines

Warehouse Wines continues to deliver significant momentum and remains a key growth driver for the Group. During the Period, Warehouse Wines revenue increased by 92% year-on-year, demonstrating the strength of this value proposition and its ability to attract a broader range of customers while leveraging our existing infrastructure and operational capability.

We continue to build the Warehouse Wines proposition thoughtfully, ensuring we maintain quality and service standards while expanding reach. We have acquired over 41,000 new customers since launch and sold over 32,000 cases in the year. Of these customers, approximately 5.3k have chosen the Wine Pass option

Current trading and Outlook

We have started the second half with encouraging momentum with revenue for January and February up 12% year-on-year as we start to see the benefit of the higher customer acquisition in H126.

Encouragingly, we have continued to keep our foot firmly on the customer acquisition accelerator following the Period end, with recruitment up 54% year-on-year in January and 83% year-on-year in February, reflecting the continued scaling of our growth strategy and the effectiveness of our marketing initiatives.

As the Group continues to invest behind its growth strategy, the Board has taken the decision to further increase the level of near-term investment, particularly with respect to customer acquisition. This additional investment is expected to be c. £0.55m over the course of the current financial year. Despite this additional investment the Group expects to remain profitable at EBITDA level this year and the Board is confident that the future benefits to be obtained from this additional investment will outweigh the short-term financial impact.

We are also aware of the volatile macro environment and the ongoing pressures on consumer expenditure, as well as increased transport and energy costs which make for an uncertain trading environment over the coming months.

Post period-end we have made a number of important hires in the business to further strengthen the leadership team and to ensure we have the capability to deliver our growth strategy over the next five years. These include the promotion of Andy Potts as Group Trading Director, Stuart Brown as Ecommerce Director, Andy Davies as Operations Director and Jarry Ryan as Director of Customer Growth.

In keeping with the Group's capital allocation policy, the Board remains committed to balancing investment in growth with returns to shareholders, as demonstrated by the share buyback programme completed during the Period. We will continue to review capital deployment opportunities, including the pace of investment behind our growth levers, while retaining a strong and flexible balance sheet.

Despite ongoing inflationary pressures, duty increases and a challenging consumer landscape, the Group's resilient model, loyal customer base and clear medium-term strategy provide a strong foundation for future growth. We continue to execute the strategy with focus and discipline.

JAY WRIGHT

Chief Executive Officer

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Financial Overview

This financial year saw the introduction of the Groups five-year growth strategy which resulted in an increase in revenue of 2% and a loss before tax of £0.4m (H1 2025: £1.3m profit), a reflection of the increased investment in growth.

The business continues to operate disciplined cost management and strong working capital controls. This discipline has always been a feature of the business and one that will continue, notwithstanding the new strategy around investment and driving customer acquisition harder.

Revenue

Group revenue increased 2% to £34.7m (H1 2025: £34.1m). This was supported by an improved performance in Q2 which saw year on year revenue increase by 4%.

Gross profit

Reported Gross Profit margin decreased by 2% to 27.7% (H1 2025: 29.7%). This reflects the more proactive approach to new customer acquisition including stronger promotional offers and changes in the sales mix. Reported Gross Profit margin includes the cost of wine, duty, packaging and delivery costs.

EBITDA

EBITDA was £0.2m, (H1 2025: £1.6m) impacted by the margin effect of the growth strategy and an additional investment of £0.9m in customer acquisition and marketing to drive growth. Despite a highly inflationary environment and significant cost pressures operating variable cost per case increased just 3%.

Loss before tax

The loss before tax was £0.4m (H1 2025: £1.3m profit), reflecting the increased investment in growth. The business continues to operate disciplined cost management and strong working capital controls. This discipline has always been a feature of the business and one that will continue, notwithstanding the new strategy around investment and driving customer acquisition harder.

Share based payments

The Group provided for a share-based payment expense of £53k (H1 2025: £34k) relating to the share based long-term incentive plan for the leadership team.

Finance income

Finance income for the period was £210k (H1 2025: £372k) from bank interest earned on cash balances.

Finance expenses

Finance expenses of £83k (H1 2025: £68k) relates to the interest charge for Right of Use Assets. The Group has no borrowings so there are no expenses relating to servicing overdrafts or loans.

Earnings per share

Earnings per share reduced to a loss of 0.4p from earnings of 1.6p in H1 2025 reflecting the decrease in Group Profit. Diluted loss per share was 0.4p (H1 2025: earnings 1.5p).

Dividend

The Board is not recommending the payment of an interim dividend, but it will keep the Group's dividend policy under review as part of the decision-making process around capital allocation and the growth strategy announced separately.

Foreign currency

All Group income is derived from UK activity and denominated in GBP. The Group purchases supplies, mainly wine, from the global market predominantly in Euros, US Dollars and Australian Dollars. The Group hedges its foreign currency purchases to provide clarity on future cost prices.

Inventory

Closing Inventory was £7.7m (H1 2025: £6.5m). The increase will support growth and allow additional early duty payment in advance of the rate increase in February 2026.

We continue to monitor the wine range and supply chain to ensure we optimise the carrying value of inventories.

Cash

Gross cash at the period end was £17.9m, (H1 2025 £23.7m) the movement reflecting £2.7m of share buybacks and £1.0m of capex spent to support the growth plan, including development of the mobile app. The balance includes £7.3m (H2 2025; £6.4m) of WineBank deposits. WineBank deposits are ring fenced and are not used to fund stock purchases or working capital.

AMANDA CHERRY

Chief Financial Officer

Condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income

In the period ended 2 January 2025 the Group operated an equity-settled share-based payment plan as described below. The charge in the period attributed to the plan was £53k (2024: £34k). Under the Virgin Wines UK Plc Long-Term Incentive Plan, the Group gives awards to Directors and senior staff subject to the achievement of a pre-agreed revenue and EBITDA figure for the financial year of the Group, three financial years subsequent to the date of the award. These shares vest after the delivery of the audited revenue and profit figure for the relevant financial year has been announced. Awards are granted under the plan for no consideration and carry no dividend or voting rights. Awards are exercisable at the nominal share value of £0.01. Awards are forfeited if the employee leaves the Group before the awards vest, except under circumstances where the employee is considered a 'Good Leaver'.

The Company granted its first share options on 23 June 2021. Further share options were granted on 6 December 2021, 6 December 2022, 30 April 2024, 6 March 2025 and 2 May 2025. The awards outstanding at 2 January 2025 have a weighted average remaining contractual life of 8.6 years (2024: 8.6 years). The fair value at grant date was determined with reference to the share price at grant date, as there are no market-based performance conditions and the expected dividend yield is 0%. Therefore there was no separate option pricing model used to determine the fair value of the awards.

Basic and diluted earnings per share are calculated by dividing the earnings attributable to equity shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period.

The calculation of basic (loss)/profit per share is based on the following data:

Statutory EPS

Depreciation is charged to operating expenses in the profit and loss account.

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