By increasing its sales by 63% from $2,332,000 to $3,790,000 for the half-year to 31 December 1998, Pipers Brook Vineyard Limited has increased profits after tax by 58% on the previous year to $198,000. Export sales now represent 35% of the company’s income and the company believes it to be on track to deliver the full-year earnings forecast in its prospectus of April 1998. In the half-year it has planted 45 ha at its Leura and Bird vineyards at Pipers River and at Strathlyn in the West Tamar. The company has restated its position that an incident of vandalism at the winery in January in which 100,000 litres of wine worth $1.5 million was liberated from its storage tanks will have no adverse impact on the company’s financial results. Apparently a group of thieves unable to find more than $1700 in cash at the cellar door vented their frustration in a way that is certain to have insurance companies hopping around their wine clients. This event follows news of a similar incident in the Hunter Valley last year.
