Australian Vintage Limited (AVL) has said it sees the next 12 months – or the 2026 fiscal year – as being transformational, as the business targets topline sales growth to reverse years of declining sales in growth.
The group said its key brand innovations of Poco Vino and Lemsecco will be key in driving the business forward with budgeted sales growth upgraded from $6m to $15m.
AVL said in a statement to the ASX that even these upgraded expectations for 2026 do not “truly reflect the scale and potential of this innovation for the Group.”
The statement added: “Current expectations are based on a small and defined distribution set in Australia and the UK for a partial period of the 2026 fiscal year only. Since AVL last gave guidance on this product’s revenue contribution, early sales in the UK have exceeded estimates by four times.
“Further acceleration, that will most likely spill over into growth for future years, will be driven by confirmation of more stores in core markets of Australia and the UK, as well as new distribution partners in NZ, Thailand, Malaysia, China and Europe. Additionally AVL is in the final stages of rollout in the USA, Indonesia, Philippines and across the Middle East.”
AVL also said that future growth of Poco Vino will not only be limited to geographical expansion.
“The Group has plans to launch additional SKUs in sparkling wine, premium ranges for global travel retail, hotel and on-premise accounts. All of this growth will be serviced by three dedicated manufacturing hubs located in Amsterdam for Europe and UK, Napa Valley for USA and Merbein for Australia, leveraging the planned ‘make where sold’ model to limit shipping lead times, increase profitability and speed to market.”
Looking ahead AVL is optimistic about other categories within its portfolio, saying: “Expectations in FY26 is for considerable growth in McGuigan and Not Guilty zero alcohol wines across the UK with planned expansion into Canada and USA. Additionally, AVL’s premium portfolio, while small, will continue to grow. The recently signed sponsorship of Cricket Australia and the Ashes series will be used as a key consumer and trade engagement platform to increase relevance, sales and awareness of this globally iconic brand.
“Based on these initiatives, Australian Vintage believes the decline of the McGuigan brand will halt in the portfolio in 2026.”
AVL said its company strategy is driven by the two key deliverables of driving topline growth and generating free cashflow. The outcome of this focused strategy is expected to deliver a free cashflow neutral position by the end of FY26, free cashflow generation of $10m+ in FY27 and $20m+ per annum in free cashflow generation by the end of FY28.