Booze giant Constellation Brands warns of $2.5B writedown on weak wine demand

Booze giant Constellation Brands on Tuesday warned it could be forced to write down the value of its assets by as much as $2.5 billion this year because of weak wine demand as consumers pull back on non-essentials amid sticky inflation.

The Rochester, NY-based company – which owns brands including Corona, Modelo, Robert Mondavi and Casa Noble – said the noncash goodwill impairment loss of between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion would hurt its second quarter results.

Constellation nearly halved its earnings outlook to between $3.05 and $7.92 a share, a steep decline from initial expectations between $14.63 and $14.93 a share.

The company dropped its total sales outlook to between 4% and 6% from between 6% and 7%.

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“Ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, particularly rising unemployment, have led to a recent deceleration in the rate of growth of consumer demand for our products,” CEO Bill Newlands said in a statement.

Constellation said it expects a sales decline in its wine and spirits division between 4% and 6% this year.

The company previously expected sales in that division to stay flat from the year before.

The company said it will be adjusting prices and ramping up its marketing efforts to help offset some of the sales challenges in its wine and spirits business.

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While its wine and spirits business falters, the company said it expects between 6% to 8% sales growth in its beer division.

However, its beer division has experienced lower-than-expected growth.

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Newlands said the demand drop has been most notable in the top five states for its beer business, which account for more than half of Constellation’s total sales volumes.

He didn’t specify the states.

The company had raised its profit outlook in July after it reported profit growth in the first quarter thanks to improved margins and high beer sales.

On Tuesday, Constellation Brands raised the lower end of its comparable earnings per share guidance by a dime to between $13.60 and $13.80, up from between $13.50 and $13.80, to represent earnings had they not been impacted by the $2.5 billion loss.

Constellation shares, which rose 2% on Tuesday, have ticked up 0.7% so far this year.

Constellation has a market capitalization of $44.99 billion.

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