The Western Australian wine group, Xanadu Wines, is forecasting a net loss of A$2m (US$1.33m) for this year but said it expected a net profit of A$2.4m for 2003/2004 on sales of A$29m.

The company said the result for the 12 months to the end of June 2003, based on unaudited accounts, would include an underlying net profit of A$1.2m which was offset by a writedown in inventory of A$2m and extraordinary costs of A$1.2m. The company also said sales for 2003/2004 were up by 63% at A$17m.

Xanadu also reported that annualised sales based on the last four months of this current year were A$22m. "We are now seeing a very strong pull-through of wholesale orders for both the Xanadu and Normans brands," said managing director, Andrew Moore.