The London-listed company, which has taken a huge boost from British households ordering in wine during coronavirus lockdowns, said it expects 40% growth in total sales this year under its central performance scenario.

Shares in the company were up 2.9% at 432 pence by 0723 GMT.

"The evidence we are seeing across our markets is consistent with our view that COVID-19 has served as an inflection point for the online wine market, with Naked uniquely placed to benefit from that," Chief Executive Officer Nick Devlin said.

Devlin added the new customers it has added during the pandemic were turning into repeat customers along with a strong repeat trading momentum.

"If indeed, as we believe, structural barriers to online wine retailing are breaking down in the U.S., it would bode very well for long term value creation," Liberum analyst Wayne Brown said.

(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Aditya Sonu)