Brown Brothers has posted a rise in sales but a slight drop in profits for 2002-03. As sales climbed by 12.4% to A$60.6m (US$43.5m) from A$53.9m year-on-year, net profit dipped to A$8.06m from A$8.15m.


Brown Brothers, one of Australia’s largest privately owned wine companies, sells around 60% of the wine it produces in Australia, which has helped cushion the impact of the rising Australian dollar. Pre-tax profits for the wine maker dropped by 5.6% to A$10.9m.


The company produces around 1m cases of wine a year, putting it in Australia’s top 10 wine groups by size.