Moonpig Shares Plunge After Cutting Revenue Forecast —Royal Mail Strike Impacts Orders

Moonpig's (LON: MOON) share price plunged Wednesday after the company cut its revenue forecast for FY 2023.

The internet-based personalised greeting cards firm told investors in its half-year results that it is currently navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment, while UK card-only orders have also been impacted by industrial action at Royal Mail.

Moonpig said, “trading conditions have become progressively more challenging through October and November,” and due to the current uncertainty, it now expects revenue for FY23 to be approximately £320 million, down from the previous expectation of £350 million.

Even so, Moonpig said it remains “confident in the structural growth opportunity” in its markets, alongside “the fundamental strength, resilience and agility” of its business.

“Our resilient business model offers a powerful and unique combination of leading market positions, strong customer retention, high profitability and robust cash generation, giving us flexibility to manage through the economic cycle. As a result, our expectations for profit for the current financial year remain unchanged,” commented Moonpig CEO Nickyl Raithatha.

For the six months ended October 31, the company's revenue was mostly flat, growing 0.1% to £142.8 million, due to annualisation against the previous year sales impact from lockdown. However, pre-tax profit more than halved to £9.1 million, from £18.7 million during the same period last year.

The company also stated there has been no significant impact on its gross margin rate from input cost inflation.

Moonpig shares are currently down more than 17% on Wednesday, following Tuesday's over 6% decline.