Treasury Wine Fails to Find Buyers for Its Budget Brands
The company is best known for its prestigious Penfolds brand
2 min
Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates admitted defeat in its effort to divest brands including Wolf Blass and Blossom Hill, moderating its annual earnings guidance amid weaker sales of its cheaper products.
Last year, Treasury outlined plans to offload its so-called commercial portfolio in a pivot toward costlier, higher-margin brands. As part of the move, it bought California’s Frank Family Vineyards in 2021 and Daou Vineyards in 2023 in deals worth US$1.31 billion combined.
On Thursday, Treasury told investors that it had failed to find a buyer for its budget brands.
“TWE has concluded that the offers received for these brands did not represent compelling value and therefore their retention is the best course of action,” Treasury said.
The company, which is best known for its prestigious Penfolds brand, said that demand for brands typically retailing for less than US$19 a bottle had fallen by 4.9% in the December-half. That includes the commercial portfolio, which comprises the company’s cheapest offerings.
As a result, Treasury expects so-called Ebits—earnings before interest, tax and other impacts including one-off items—for the full fiscal year of 780 million Australian dollars, or about US$489.8 million. That’s at the bottom end of its previously issued A$780 million-A$810 million guidance range.
Even so, Treasury on Thursday reported a A$220.9 million net profit for its fiscal first half, up 33% on year as the company continued to re-establish its Penfolds brand in China following that country’s removal of tariffs on Australian wine.
Revenue rose by 20% to A$1.57 billion, while profit increased 33% to A$239.6 million once material items and currency moves were stripped out.
The average analyst forecast had been for a net profit of A$242.1 million from revenue of A$1.57 billion, according to data compiled by Visible Alpha. Treasury reported first-half Ebits of A$391.4 million.
The board declared a dividend of 20 Australian cents a share, up from 17 cents a year earlier.
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Citizen Kanebridge expands into Sydney’s fast-growing Norwest corridor, bringing the club back to the region where the Kanebridge story was shaped more than two decades ago.
2 min
Citizen Kanebridge, one of Australia’s premier private members’ clubs, will open a new chapter in Sydney’s fast-growing Norwest corridor, expanding its physical footprint to meet its property, finance and investment membership base where they live and work.
The club’s primary premises remains the Royal Automobile Club of Australia on Macquarie Street in the Sydney CBD — one of Australia’s most distinguished institutions — where Citizen Kanebridge members continue to enjoy full access to its storied facilities at the heart of the city.
The new Norwest chapter, to be known as Citizen Kanebridge Norwest, will be developed in partnership with Momento Hospitality, with the venue’s top floor facility serving as the primary location for key events.
Norwest has emerged as one of Sydney’s fastest-growing commercial and residential corridors, increasingly home to the developers, financiers and investors at the heart of the Citizen Kanebridge community. The move places the club at the centre of the growth story many of its members are most engaged in.
“Norwest is where the city is moving,” said Ruba Jaajaa, COO of Kanebridge Media. “For a club built around property, finance and investment conversations, it’s simply the right place to be.”
For Jaajaa, the expansion carries a personal resonance as much as a strategic one.
“There is also a wonderful sense of coming full circle in bringing Citizen Kanebridge to Norwest,” she said. “More than 20 years ago, this is where the foundations of the Kanebridge Group were first developed. Returning to the area is a warm opportunity to reconnect with the enduring relationships, trusted conversations and community that have been part of the Kanebridge story since 1999.”
Membership will be offered as a dedicated tier, the Citizen Kanebridge Norwest Individual Membership, including monthly dining credits at Momento Hospitality venues and access to the Sonato global reciprocal club network, spanning more than 250 private clubs worldwide. Members will also receive digital subscriptions to Kanebridge Quarterly, Robb Report Australia & New Zealand, and The Wall Street Journal.
Further details on the launch event calendar, membership applications and transition arrangements will be announced soon.
For further information, contact Ross Blainey at concierge@citizenkanebridge.com.au.
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