Echo Falls and Lambrini owner loses over £100m as alcohol duty hikes bite
The owner of Echo Falls and Lambrini has slumped to a loss of more than £100m as the cost-of-living crisis and alcohol duty hike significantly impacted its finances.
The UK arm of Accolade Wines, whose brands also include Hardys and Kumala, has reported a pre-tax loss of £103.8m for the 12 months to 30 June, 2024.
The loss comes after the division of Australia’s second-largest wine producer posted a deficit of £10.7m in its prior year.
New accounts filed with Companies House also show that the firm’s turnover increased from £450.2m to £461.1m over the same period.
Accolade Wines said its performance was impacted by another of “exogenous factors” including the cost-of-living crisis on buying spending habits and UK duty reforms which were brought in on 1 August, 2023.
The business added that it has faced additional costs due to re-route shipments around the Cape of Good Hope due to the closure of the Suez Canal.
It also pointed to energy prices “continuing to be inflated in the UK” due to the invasion of Ukraine.
At the start of August 2023, the previous Conservative government brought in measures which saw an end to the blanket alcohol duty freeze which was put in place via the Autumn Budget 2020 during the pandemic.
The duty hikes brought price rises for 90 per cent of wines sold in the UK, wine and spirit trade association WSTA said at the time.
At the start of 2025, updated duty rates on wine and spirits came into force, leading to price rises for most alcohol.
Echo Falls owner completes deals
After the end of its financial year, Pernod Ricard agreed to sell its international wine brands to the owner of Accolade Wines.
The financial results cover the year in which the firm’s parent company was taken by a consortium of investors led by private investment firm, Bain Capital, in February 2024.
The deal saw Bain Capital agree to become the largest stakeholder in Accolade after agreeing to buy the company’s debt. Accolade Wines had been bought by Carlyle in 2018 for A$1bn.
Accolade Wines has owned the Lambrini brand since 2021 after it was created by the maker of Crabbie’s Ginger Beer and Dead Man’s Fingers, Halewood Artisanal Spirts.