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Naked accounts show 2014 profit for UK operation as number of angels soars

Published:  01 July, 2015

Documents lodged at Companies House show that the UK operation of Naked Wines turned a profit for the first time in 2014.

But the holding company Naked Wines International - which provides investment to help the country subsidiaries grow their market footprint - recorded just shy of a £13 million loss over the same period as a result of the large costs associated with recruiting new customers.

The UK business made an operating profit of £1.4 million in the financial year to Dec 31, 2014, against a loss of £453,000 in the previous year.

Funds available to invest in winemakers increased from £7.3 million to £8.7 million and there was an increase in turnover of 16.8% to £45.1 million.

The accounts show that the number of UK angel customers went up from 141,000 to 158,000, a rise of 12.1%.

The figures represent the last full financial year since Majestic announced it was buying Naked Wines in April.

The directors' report in the accounts - dated after the acquisition and signed by Naked founder and now Majestic chief executive Rowan Gormley - said: "The business continues to deliver attractive returns from investment in new customers. We intend to continue to expand the range of wines and winemakers we offer to increase the attractiveness of our proposition to our angel base."

The loss recorded by Naked Wines International was just £4,000 short of the £13 million mark, a big jump on a £174,00 loss posted a year earlier.

The director's report stated that this was because of the "considerable investment" that had been made to recruit new customers. This resulted in a 34% increase in angels to 290,000.

It added: "The directors are confident that the investment will be returned over the lifetime of the angels recruited, based on the strong retention rates for angels that we are seeing in all markets."

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