Moa signs long-term brewing deal with McCashin's
Moa signs long-term brewing deal with McCashin's as expansion talks continue
By Paul McBeth
May. 26 (BusinessDesk) - Moa Group, the boutique beer maker scheduled to report annual earnings tomorrow, has signed a long-term brewing contract with McCashin's Brewery in Nelson amid protracted negotiations to expand capacity at its own facility in Blenheim.
The Auckland-based company has
extended its contract brewing arrangement with McCashin's
for an unspecified time, and will use some of Moa's own
equipment, it said in a statement. High-end specialty brews
will continue to be produced at Moa's Blenheim site, and
volume brews at the McCashin's brewery. The deal fills the
gap left by Moa's protracted resource consent application to
expand the Blenheim brewery, and the company said it is in
.private mediation talks for a modest increase in capacity
at the site.
"We get the brewing scale we require, in
a timely fashion and without significant demands on capital
expenditure," chief executive Geoff Ross said. "I am
confident that we will achieve a satisfactory resolution to
the mediation this year."
Moa raised $16 million in a
2012 initial public offer, of which it expected $6.1 million
would be spent on expanding the brewery.
The shares
fell 1.6 percent to 61 cents, and have shed 3.1 percent this
year. The stock slumped last year when sales volumes missed
forecast, something Moa blamed on its now-dumped
distributor, Treasury Wine Estates, for failing to deliver
on the agreed targets.
Last year the company’s board
said it will embark on a strategic review to “improve the
overall profitability and viability of the business model in
each of its markets and in terms of its manufacturing
capability, both for the immediate and medium terms.” It
expects to complete the review once the decision on the new
brewery is
finalised.
(BusinessDesk)