Fosters wine makes loss

Australia's biggest beer and winemaker, Fosters, has posted a loss of A$286.9 million (£130 million) and written down the value of its wine business by A$602.9 million (£278 million). It’s the company’s first loss in 16 years and has led to a major review of the wine unit to work out what to do with it.

Fosters is the world's second-largest winemaker after Constellation Brands, who recently put 3 of its 10 Australian wineries up for sale after a strategic review and writing down of assets.

Fosters’ brands include Rosemount, Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Lindemans, but lower demand for Australian wine in the US and a decrease in domestic sales of bag-in-box have reduced market shares with volumes down 5.7 percent to 38.7 million cases.