A senior executive at troubled Australian wine company Treasury Wine has stepped down, as it announced structural changes to its operation.

Andrew Carter, COO of Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is leaving the business, but the company has yet to announce his successor. However, a spokesman said the UK operation, under general manager Dan Townsend, was “business as usual”.

The move comes as the wine company hives off its Australian operation from its EMEA operation. The Australia side of the business is being divided into a commercial brands portfolio, headed up by Australia general manager Angus McPherson, and ‘masstige’ (middle tier) and luxury brands, which will be taken on by chief marketing officer Simon Marton. 

The company is also writing down AU$260m of debt during this fiscal year, describing 2015 as a ‘reset’ year. CEO Michael Clarke, who joined the company in March, said this write down highlighted the need for the company “to do things differently”.

“The current business model is not being optimised and fails to reflect the company’s outstanding capability, brands and equipment assets,” he said.

However, he added that his actions so far had demonstrated he was prepared to drive changes to unlock value and deliver results sustainably by supporting brands, reducing costs and delivering an improved performance.

As part of these changes, the company is moving the release date of its Penfolds Bin and Icon series from March to the autumn, in order to maximise key sale periods of Christmas and allow the company to support sales and marketing better. Clarke said it would allow for better management of allocations and inventory levels.

“The changes we are making to our business model, including moving Penfolds release dates, not only make commercial sense but are also good for our brands,” Clarke said. “We have already taken significant steps to reset consumer marketing investment, our cost base and business model and over the coming year we must fully realise the benefits of these changes.”

The company’s brands include Lindemans, Wolf Blass, Penfolds and Rosemount Estate.

Topics