Maggie Beer banks on new products to arrest sliding sales
Maggie Beer Holdings’ new chief executive says the gourmet food producer will be able to withstand lower consumer spending after posting a drop in sales and cutting the value of its gifts and hampers business.
Kinda Grange, who took the helm in March, said the strength of the Maggie Beer brand in sauces, cooking stock and bone broth would help offset a trend where shoppers are trading down to cheaper products in other categories as higher interest rates and energy bills hit household budgets. But she acknowledged there were uncertainties in the economy and fluctuations in different product segments.
“It’s up and down across the business,” she said. Ms Grange said the lead-up to Christmas would be crucial for the company’s fortunes because of its natural skew toward gift-giving.
Maggie Beer Holdings suffered a 1.4 per cent drop in revenues to $88.7 million for the year to June 30. The online hampers business, Hampers & Gifts Australia, acquired for $40 million in 2021, recorded a 7.5 per cent fall in sales.
Maggie Beer Holdings CEO Kinda Grange. Peter Rae
The company reported a net profit of $462,000 compared with a loss of $12.3 million a year earlier when its finances were affected by one-off expenses.
The online Hampers & Gifts business provided a one-off $14 million injection to bottom-line profits this year because it did not meet financial hurdles agreed upon with the vendors, resulting in a reversal of a provision the company had previously made for an expected earn-out payment.
But Maggie Beer Holdings wrote down the value of the Hampers & Gifts by $12.5 million.
Maggie Beer Holdings shares slipped 10 per cent to 13.5¢ by mid-afternoon on Monday.
The shares have halved in the past year from 33¢ at the end of
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