Australian Vintage has terminated its lease of a vineyard in Millewa, Victoria, three years ahead of schedule.
In a filing on the Australian Stock Exchange, the owner of McGuigan and Tempus Two brands said it “proactively pursued the opportunity to exit early to support its flexible grape sourcing strategy and inventory reduction”.
The vineyard, owned by Fresh Country Farms, produces an estimated 10,000 to 12,000t of predominantly red winegrapes.
The lease, originally set to expire after the 2028 vintage, was ended on 16 July.
Australian Vintage expects the removal of these varietals from the supply chain to provide a net cash flow benefit of A$8m ($5.2m) over the remaining lease term, despite a A$2m exit fee and ongoing payments equivalent to lease fees as part of the exit contract.
In efforts to raise capital and lower debts amid a what it describes as a “difficult 2024”, Australian Vintage ended a long-term lease with the owners of the Balranald vineyard in New South Wales last May. Two months later, it sold a vineyard in South Australia to The Randall Wine Group.
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By GlobalDataThe company has also undergone significant leadership changes, appointing a new CEO and board members.
In April 2025, Australian Vintage promoted chief commercial officer Tom Dusseldorp to CEO, succeeding Craig Garvin, who was reappointed as CEO last October.
In May, Australian Vintage acquired international ownership rights to the MadFish brand from Burch Family Wines, describing the deal as “strategically important” for its UK operations.
“It provides a scalable – over 200,000 cases – balance to red-wine centric McGuigan and gives the portfolio a much-needed lighter varietal range,” the group said at the time.
In its 2023/24 fiscal year, the company’s revenue rose 1% to A$261m, with underlying EBITS up 24% at A$13m and underlying NPATS growing 29% to A$5m, despite posting a loss of A$93m.
For the first half of its 2024/25 fiscal year, ending 31 December, Australian Vintage reported a 7.4% drop in revenue to A$126.1m.
Gross margins fell 11% to A$35.4m.
However, the group noted its “best cash performance in four years,” with normalised cash outflow improving by A$11m to A$8m.
The company saw declines in reported and underlying EBITDAS, with the former dropping 22.7% to A$11.2m and the latter decreasing 20% to A$13.2m.
Underlying EBITS dropped A$2m to A$6m, reflecting cost focus amid challenging industry conditions.
Australian Vintage booked a net loss of A$473,000, compared to a net profit of A$2.8m a year earlier.
