VINO Virgin Wines Uk Plc

30 May 2024

Virgin Wines UK plc

("Virgin Wines", the "Company" or the "Group")

Transaction in Own Shares, Total Voting Rights and Launch of New Share Buyback Programme

Transaction in Own Shares

Virgin Wines UK plc (AIM: VINO), one of the UK's largest direct-to-consumer online wine retailers announces it has re-purchased 288,720 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 48 pence per Ordinary Share (the "Repurchase"). The Repurchase, equating to approximately 0.5 per cent. of the issued Ordinary Shares, was undertaken on 29 May 2024 in accordance with the terms of the Company's general authority to make purchases of Ordinary Shares granted by the Company's shareholders on 6 December 2023. The Ordinary Shares, the subject of the Repurchase, will be held in Treasury in anticipation of the future exercise of share options under the Company's long term incentive plan ("LTIP"). As first announced at the time of the Company's interim results on 25 March 2024, the Board has approved this Repurchase and the below Share Buyback Programme given the Company's strong cash position and the current share price.

Total Voting Rights

Following the Repurchase, Virgin Wines holds 288,720 Ordinary Shares in Treasury. Following the Repurchase, the total number of Ordinary Shares in issue with voting rights (excluding Ordinary Shares held in Treasury) is 55,683,685. This figure may be used by the Company's shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change of interest in, Virgin Wines under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

New Share Buyback Programme

In addition to the above, Virgin Wines announces that it intends to commence a new share buyback programme in respect of its ordinary shares of £0.01 each ("Ordinary Shares") up to an initial maximum value of £361,415 worth of Ordinary Shares from the date of this announcement (the "Share Buyback Programme"). The purchased Ordinary Shares will be held in treasury and used to satisfy share issuances under the LTIP.

The Company has given an irrevocable and non-discretionary instruction to Liberum, acting as principal, in relation to the Share Buyback Programme, which will commence today and will end no later than 20 September 2024.

Any purchases of Ordinary Shares contemplated by this announcement will be affected within certain pre-set parameters. These arrangements are in accordance with the authorities granted by the Company's shareholders at its annual general meeting held on 6 December 2023 in respect of market repurchases of Ordinary Shares.

Shareholders should be aware that the programme will, insofar as is possible, be conducted in accordance with the safe harbour parameters of the Market Abuse Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (as incorporated into UK domestic law by virtue of the UK's European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019)('MAR') as well as the applicable laws and regulations of the UK Financial Conduct Authority.

Any market repurchase of Ordinary Shares will be announced no later than 7:30 a.m. on the business day following the calendar day on which the repurchase occurred. All Ordinary Shares repurchased will be held in treasury.

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About Virgin Wines

Virgin Wines is one of the UK's largest direct-to-consumer online wine retailers. It is an award-winning business which has a reputation for supplying and curating high quality products, excellent levels of customer service and innovative ways of retailing.

The Company, which is headquartered in Norwich, UK, was established in 2000 by the Virgin Group and was subsequently acquired by Direct Wines in 2005 before being bought out by the Virgin Wines management team, led by CEO Jay Wright and CFO Graeme Weir, in 2013. It listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in 2021.

Virgin Wines has almost 700 wines and c. 150 spirits in its portfolio which it sells to an active customer base of more than 170,000 members. It has approximately 200 employees and more than 40 trusted winemaking partners and suppliers around the world.

The Company drives the majority of its revenue though its fast-growing WineBank subscription scheme, using a variety of marketing channels, as well as through its Wine Advisor team, Wine Plan channel and Pay As You Go service.

Along with its extensive range of award-winning products, Virgin Wines was delighted to be named Online Drinks Retailer of the Year for 2022 at last year's Drinks Retailing Awards, as well as receiving the bronze award for Contact Centre of the Year at the 2022 UK National Contact Centre Awards. In addition, in 2023 the Group's Head of Buying, Sophie Lord, was also named Buyer of the Year by Decanter magazine. 

https://www.virginwinesplc.co.uk/