Waipara aims for return to budget

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Monday 4th March 2002

Secondary listed wine business Waipara Hills Wine Estate (WWE) says sales revenue for the first four month's trading is behind budget but it is predicting a return to forecast later in the year.

The Canterbury-based wine business has reported start-up operating losses of $766,000 for the interim period ended December, with $124,000 in sales.

"With bottling of wine occurring later than expected and delays in negotiating United Kingdom export contracts overall revenue from wine sales was behind budget for the four-month period," the winemaker says.

"However, the directors expect sales volumes to achieve budgeted levels as the 2002 year progresses."

Waipara Hills says national and international success for the Langdale of Canterbury and the Waipara Hills labels were highlights during the period.

"The Langdale 2001 Riesling won a gold medal at the Air New Zealand Wine Show while Waipara Hills 2001 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc scored 89 points in the "Wine UK Magazine" New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc tasting which put it second equal with Wither Hills.

"The directors were very pleased with this early success for the new company, which was established in September last year to produce and market premium quality award-winning wines."

Chairman, Syd Bradley, says now that the business start-up tasks are virtually complete, the directors' attention is focused on sales and production.

"While the next six months will be challenging, medium term projections show that the business is tracking in line with the prospectus and investment statement projections in the key areas of production, sales and profitability".

The company, which has 2.707 million shares on issue to some 400 investors, is now making its scheduled second and final call of 40 cents per share.

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