Delegat Group celebrates 25% increase in profit

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Delegat Group has posted a $43 million net profit after tax in the six months ending December 31.

New Zealand's largest listed winemaker increased its profit in the period by 25 per cent from $34.4m a year earlier.

The Auckland-based firm posted sales revenue of $168m in the period, compared to $154.1m a year earlier, and reported record cashflow from operations of $42.9m - a 21 per cent increase on last year.

Delegat achieved global case sales of 1.8 million in the 26 weeks - a 7 per cent increase on the same period last year, and sales growth of 17 per cent coming from within its North American market.

Case sales in Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific, however, declined by 16 per cent.

Despite the strong results the group has decided it will not pay out a dividend for the period.

A spokesman for the company said this was normal practice and it only declared a dividend once a year: "We view a half year result as a useful indicator of how performance is tracking, but we are ultimately most interested in the full annual result each year."

Executive chairman Jim Delegat said the result was another "record" six months for the group, and it was on track to deliver 3.3 million global case sales in the full year.

The group forecasts a 2021 operating profit of $67m, an approximate 10 per cent increase on last year's performance.

Earlier this year Delegat managing director John Freeman announced he would be stepping down as managing director of the firm. He will remain with the company until the end of next month and then relocate to Australia with his family.

"John has made a significant contribution to the success of Delegat Group as managing director over the last three years and prior to that in sales leadership roles since 2005. As managing director, John has led Delegat Group to achieve strong growth, with highlights including successful navigation of Covid-19 disruptions and delivering record performance over the past three years," Delegat said in a market announcement in February.

"I would like to thank John for the contribution he has made to the long-term success of Delegat Group and wish him and his family all the best for their future endeavours."

The group is undergoing recruitment process for a replacement.