Foley Family Wines profits up on export jump to US

Tuesday 16th February 2016

Foley Family Wines, the NZAX-listed company majority owned by US businessman Bill Foley, says profits rose sharply in the six months through December, mainly driven by a jump in exports to the United States. The company operates a range of brands including Grove Mill, Sanctuary and Te Kairanga.

Net profit jumped to $1.6 million in the six months ended Dec. 31 from $400,000 a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sales rose 12 percent to $17.4 million. Packaged export case sales were up 42 percent and the company said it has had strong interest from China.

Foley sold 60,995 cases of wine to the US during the second half of 2015, an increase of 43 percent on a year earlier. That's more wine that it sold domestically in New Zealand, where it sold 60,000 cases, a drop of 12 percent.

Chief Executive Mark Turnbull said this reflected "the highly competitive nature of the domestic New Zealand market and the carry-through of wine from the large 2014 vintage for some wineries leading to aggressive domestic pricing".

NZ's wine exports reached a record high of $1.54 billion in 2015, up 14 percent according to figures from the trade body, New Zealand Winegrowers. Sales to the USA rose 26 percent to $430 million, Canada was up 18 percent and the UK up 12 percent. This was partly driven by the lower kiwi dollar which made New Zealand wine cheaper in overseas markets.

Shares in Foley Family Wines recently traded at $1.42 and have fallen 4 percent in the last year, valuing the company at $74.1 million.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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