Delegat reported an increased operating profit of $65.5 million in the financial year to June 30, but a reduced reported net profit after tax, down 5% after adjustments.
Operating profit for the listed wine company rose 8% and was 22% of sales revenue, which fell slightly to $295m.
Case sales of wine were down 3% to 3.178 million, at an average price of just under $93 a case.
Delegat’s plans include grape growing expansion in Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough and Barossa Valley to lift case sales by 5-10% annually in the three-year forecast.
In FY24 it expects to be close to 4m case sales.
In the near-term, guidance has been made for operating profit between $57m and $61m in FY22, with case sales of 3.419m, up 8%.
Directors declared a final dividend of 20c, an increase on the 17c paid in each of the previous two years.
It will be fully imputed and paid on October 8, accounting for $20m of the profit.
Its share price has hovered around $15 during the past year, but dipped to $13 in the two months before the results announcement.
Most of that dip has now been recovered as market confidence in wine exports returns, although the company’s dividend yield is a low 1%.
The 2021 grape harvest was exceptional quality in all three growing regions, totalling 37,470 tonnes, down 2% on 2020.
