Foster's suffers massive fall in profit

BREWING and wine major Foster's has posted a massive 88 per cent fall in annual profit, with the company taking a $603 million hit to the value of its global wine business while offering investors little assurance that things will improve this year.

Net profit for the 12 months ended June 30 was $111.7 million after tax -- down from $966.2 million a year earlier.

However, higher production costs could hurt margins in the wine business, while increases in malt, hops and fuel prices would add up to 6 per cent to the cost of production for the beer, cider and spirits division.

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