(Bloomberg) — Virgin Wines UK Plc shares tumbled the most on record after the online wine retailer said Christmas deliveries were hurt by the omicron variant.
Labor shortages because of staff calling in sick or self-isolating meant that “the business had to ‘cut off’ for Christmas delivery 2 days earlier than planned to ensure all customers received their orders,” the company said in a statement Thursday. It now sees revenue and profit for the fiscal year ending in June to be slightly below consensus market expectations.
Shares in Norwich, England-based Virgin Wines plunged as much as 23%, taking its market capitalization down to 86.5 million pounds ($117 million). The stock has fallen 21% since going public in March 2021.
“This will likely be taken as a negative read-across” for peer Naked Wines Plc, Jefferies analyst Andrew Wade wrote in a note to clients. Shares in that company fell as much as 5.5% to the lowest since November 2020.
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