US: National Wine & Spirits doubles earnings in 2003

By Anne Brockhoff | 3 July 2003

The Indianapolis-based drinks distributor, National Wine & Spirits, said net income for the year to the end of March 2003 more than doubled to US$15.8m, from US$7.5m a year ago, mostly due to a one-time vendor settlement payment and gains from discounted purchases of senior notes.

EBITDA rose to US$34.7m, up from US$27.7m in fiscal 2002. Total sales reached US$689.9m, compared with US$659.6m in fiscal 2002, after the company’s United States Beverage unit began distributing Grolsch beers and Seagram Coolers nationwide.

Case sales of wine rose by 5.6%, though spirits volume fell by 1.1% after the company lost some distribution rights in Illinois. The company has “taken steps to appropriately size its workforce” in that state and closed warehouse operations in its Champaign and Peoria facilities to reduce costs. Still, the loss of brands in Illinois is expected to generate lower profit and EBITDA for fiscal 2004, the company said in a statement that did not include a detailed forecast.