Specialist wine supplier Virgin Wines (VINO:AIM) uncorked palate-pleasing H1 results showing positive progress against a refreshed growth strategy.
The Norwich-based firm delivered ‘meaningful’ market share gains in the half ended 2 January 2026, with a 40% year-on-year increase in new customers.
To maintain this top-line momentum however, Virgin Wines guided to an extra £550,000 in customer acquisition spend. This was greater than the market expected and left the shares trading lower on the day.
Winning market share
Guided by CEO Jay Wrght, Virgin Wines is the UK’s largest direct-to-consumer (DTC) online wine retailer. The company’s medium-term target is to grow revenues to £100 million at a 7% EBITDA margin.
H1 results showed a 2% rise in revenue to £34.7 million as the company enjoyed a good Christmas period and took share in a declining wider online drinks market. Impressively, Virgin Wines acquired 40% more new customers year-on-year.
‘New customers coming into the business is the fuel that drives the growth engine in the long-term,’ Wright told Sharesify.
‘And while we know there’s always a time lag between bringing new customers in, and then getting the value and profitability out of them, we’ve got to start the process of bringing more customers in to get back into growth again.’
Encouragingly, the Warehouse Wines business nearly doubled its revenue in H1, while Virgin Wines continued to grow its commercial partnerships. Revenue from the Moonpig (MOON) account grew by 13%.
‘Appy days ahead
Wright insisted: ‘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.’
He is palpably excited by the potential of the Virgin Wines mobile app, with a full marketing launch scheduled for later this month.
Broker Cavendish sees this launch as ‘an important moment for a business whose roots lie in DTC’, and says the move ‘signals a strategic evolution in customer engagement’ for the business.
Virgin Wines’ growth strategy is gaining momentum and the company is delivering market share gains in a tough consumer environment. Trading continues to track positively with revenue for January and February up 12% year-on-year.
Given a strong, debt-free balance sheet that should support further earnings-enhancing buybacks, we think the shares are well worth a look at 55p. Cavendish has a 75p price target for Virgin Wines, implying tasty 35% upside at current levels.
Read the press release here: https://www.virginwinesplc.co.uk/investors/
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