Finance: Constellation Brands 4th-Quarter Net Down 21% on Tax Costs
Finance: Constellation Brands 4th-Quarter Net Down 21% on Tax Costs
Apr 10, 2013 6(FoxBusiness) - Constellation Brands Inc.'s (STZ) fiscal fourth-quarter profit shrank 21% as the wine and spirits maker's sharply higher tax rate and increased expenses offset its stronger revenue.
Results topped Wall Street's expectations, with wine and spirits sales jumping 8% on an organic constant-currency basis. Consolidated shipment volume for those businesses grew 7.3%.
Shares of Constellation, which makes Robert Mondavi and Ravenswood wines and Svedka vodka, have more than doubled since last June, when the company first signaled it would buy out Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo SAB de CV's (GPMCY, GMODELO.MX) half of Crown Imports LLC, their joint venture that supplies the U.S. with Grupo Modelo beers such as Corona.
However, that deal hinges on Anheuser-Busch InBev NV's (BUD, ABI.BT) proposed $20.1 billion acquisition of Grupo Modelo, and both hit a snag earlier this year when the Justice Department sued to stop that merger, citing worries about competition.
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