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17.11.2003 |
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Winecorp launches first own wine brand in SA |
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Lynn Bolin
Posted Mon, 17 Nov 2003
Listed South African wine producer Winecorp Ltd, is expecting to boost its production by approximately 18 percent in its new financial year to end- July 2004, to 1.3 million cases of wine (11.7 million litres) compared to 1.1 million cases the previous year, according to CEO Neville Carew.
Winecorp specialises in producing own-brand wines for its clients, together with its sister (unlisted) wine group Winecorp SA (incorporating Spier, Longridge, and other smaller wine brands),
Together, Winecorp Ltd and Winecorp SA, which form part of the overall Spier group of companies, can be counted among the country's top ten wine producers by volume thanks to their strong growth in recent years. Spier Holdings has a 46 percent stake in the listed company, while 15.6 percent is held by Hollard Insurance Company.
Winecorp Ltd reported a steady turnover of R85.7-million for the year to end-July 2004, but saw its headline earnings deteriorate to a loss of R0.7-million from a profit of R8.4-million the previous year. This was due largely to the strong rand, which shaved R8-million off its earnings.
It is just one example of the many South African wine producers seeing their export earnings squeezed sharply by the appreciation of the local currency in 2003 after having geared up their export capacity significantly due to rising demand for South African wines world wide.
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