Financial Analysis of Robert Mondavi
Robert Mondavi
Seeing that I have already made millions upon millions in my moderately successful modeling career, I have decided to turn my attention to investing my money in stock, in particular, Robert Mondavi.
1998 was a hard year for Mondavi, an unforeseen shortage of their most popular wine (Woodbridge Chardonnay- 55% of their revenues) and stiff competition from several new imported brands forced net income down almost $8,000, and cut their earnings per share by 78%.
For 1999, Mondavi was forced to take several actions to achieve their objectives. This included redoubling focus on the two largest-volume brands, appointing their Chief Financial Officer to Chief Operating Officer, doubling media expenditures to $7.3 million, taking a $6 million charge to write-off excess inventory and streamline their workforce, creating Brand Teams to improve accountability and planning, and adopt FIFO method of inventory accounting to improve predictability earnings and improve the measurement of inventory value.
Mondavi has apparently shown great results from the restructuring, the concentration on the two largest-volume brands have accounted for 20% of the growth of all U.S. varietal wines. They reported record gains in their first quarter report of 2000. The bottom line of the annual report for 1999 shows a 14% increase in net income.
But is the company safe to invest in? Stable growth throughout 1995-97 showed net income bolt to $38,125, up 310%. But 1997 showed the risks involved with investing in a company that so heavily relies on natural resources (grapes). Shortages in supplies dropped net income by almost $8,000; earnings per share dropped .53 from 2.43 to 1.90.
After analyzing the financial statement, I was able to determine several interesting aspects: a .52 debt ratio shows appeal to lenders; a current ratio of 6.31 is very impressive. Seeing that inventory is so unstable and subject to many natural extraordinary events, the more important acid test shows Mondavi has a comfortable, but less impressive ratio of 1.54.
I have found that the financial statement for Robert Mondavi is not to my liking. The strange fonts and subdues colors
Looking at the individual ratios seen in exhibit 1 and comparing it to the industry average shown in exhibit 2 gives a sense of where this company stands. Current ratio and quick ratio are really low and have been decreasing. For 1995, the current ratio is 1.15:1, which is less than the industry average of 1.60:1, however to give a better sense of where this stands in the industry, as seen in exhibit 3, it is actually less than the average of the bottom 25% of the industry. The quick ratio is 0.61 is less than the industry is 0.90. Both these ratios serve to point out the lack of cash in this company. The cash flow has been decreasing because, it takes longer to get the money from customers, but the company still needs to pay for its purchases. Also, the company couldn’t go over the $400,000 loan limit, so they were forced to stretch their cash.
The domestic wine market for Australian wines is approximately $2.8 billion. Australians consume around 530 million litres annually of which 16.6% is imported. Research indicates winery tourism is increasing (see table 1)
In 1996, Jim Wagner was hired as chief financial officer and was able to successfully achieve steady profitability for the company. One year later, in 1997, in an attempt to source its strategic investments, Natureview organized an equity infusion from a venture capital firm; however, the venture capital now needs to cash out of its investment in Natureview and management will therefore need to find another investor or position itself for acquisition. In order to attain the maximum potential valuation, the company must make strategic marketing choices in an attempt to increase revenues to $20 million before the end of year 2001. And to meet this lofty goal, Natureview can potentially enter a new market and transition from the natural food channel into the supermarket channel, a move that would signify a dramatic departure from the company’s present cha...
If we look at a number of key ratios for Clarkson Lumber, some clear issues emerge. Their Debt to Equity ratio is rising as a result of increased debt. In 1993 the Debt to Equity Ratio was .45. In 1994 it was .68 and in 1995 it was .73. This is a trend that Clarkson will have to take into consideration as he refinances his company.
MCI current capital structure is x% debt and y% equity. Their key ratios are a, b, and c. Comparing to other firms in the utilities industry they appear to be underutilizing (debt/equity). (See exhibit D). Referencing the forecast there is expected to b...
Within the wine industry, it is often thought of as having a low threat of entrants based on a historical understanding. In the Old World, the use of technology and automation is avoided as well as the use of strategic advertising and promotion methods. In addition, a highly regulated production system is implemented for certain inputs of the industry, which introduced a low threat of new entrants. However, the threat has risen in the New World due to the investment in technology and automation based production as well as an increased budget for advertising. The ability to start an independent, high-end winery takes a large physical and financial capital investment.
In order to achieve this objective Robert believed that he needed to build a Robert Mondavi brand in the premium wine market segment. This resulted in the initial pro¬duction of a limited quantity of premium wines using the best grapes, which brought the highest prices in the market and had the highest profit margins per bottle. How¬ever, he soon realized that this strategy, while establishing the brand, did not allow the company to generate enough cash flow to expand the business. In order to solve this problem Robert decided to produce less expensive wines that he could sell in higher volumes. He dedicated time and effort to finding the best vineyards in Napa Valley for the company's production of grapes. In addition, he signed long-term con¬tracts with growers in Napa Valley and worked closely with each grower to improve grape quality.
A “problem” is identified in the beginning of the case, indicating that there is titanic shift in the global wine industry. The drastic change inevitably caused both the New World and the Old World to clash for market share and profitable stake in the $230 billion global industry. Amidst the battle, the New World gained the competitive advantage, and challenged the Old World’s traditional ways and former dominance.
Compared to the industry as a whole, Mondavi is not responding to the changing marketplace and demands. While there has been some growth in the ultra and luxury premium market segments, the explosion in the last 15 years had been in the popular premium ($3-7 per bottle) and super-premium ($7-14) sector. Mondavi’s own Woodbridge offering is responsible for 76% of its case volume and 57% of its revenue as of 2001, but seemingly exists in isolation amidst all the high-end offerings from the company. Competitors that have established themselves in jug wine, beer, and other spirits are taking advantage of their sales volume and migrating upward. While E&J Gallo, Constellation, and the beer producers may not have the reputation for quality and craft that RMW possesses, their substantial financial weight has allowed them to develop or purchase brands that could compete in the higher altitudes and price segments. Meanwhile, competitors with similar histories in premium winemaking are taking advantage of lower production costs to horizontally integrate, acquire land, and build new wineries in different countries, as Kendall Jackson has done with the Villa Arceno (Italy) and Yangarra Park (Australia) wines.
The wine market in California represents more than 90% of all the United State’s wine production. People drink wi...
...rs, setting a good trend for the corporation. They also have a very low debt-to-equity ratio, indicating that they have enough equity to easily pay off any funds acquired from creditors. As a creditor I would feel safe in lending them funds for any future projects or endeavors.
Grand Metropolitan PLC is the world’s largest wine and spirits seller. It mainly operated in London, USA. In 1991, it beats market expectation with a 4.8% increase in pretax profits, and the company Chairman stated that company’s goal “to constantly improve on”. Despite the great performance in the world recession in 1991, the price of GrandMet shares was 10% below the average price/earnings ratio of the companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. And more important, rumors had that GrandMet, valued at more than $14 billion in the stock market, maybe a takeover target. The management dilemma is to understand why the company’s stock is traded below of what considered being the right price and whether the company is truly being undervalued by the market or there are consistent issues with negative NPV projects and lines of businesses.
...r supermarkets controlling close 80% of sales and 9 wine producing companies making up 91% of production is causing strain within the industry and is problematic for the 600 producers and growers. The organisations abover in particular the WFA is impleting ideas situated around tax being imposed incorrectly but the ‘power’ lies in the major companies and not the lesser nine percent whom would benefit. These ideas include better planting strategies, reducing the power of the the major supermarket chains and reducing tax on growers but politically this is almost impossible to introduce. The current situation is projected as getting worse. A lot of people are going to suffer before the situation get better.
Their competitive advantage in relation to home demand conditions show Australia’s population is quite small compared to many countries so it is clear that their domestic markets provide them with a very small scope for expansion in their wine industry, however due to their strong market positioning they are quite capable to produce and export wine. They can account to their strong competitive advantage in wine exports as a result of their adaptability to global circumstances, strong foreign investment and large scale producers. This is coherent regarding their domestic firm strategy, structure and
"The Wine Institute." 2015 Annual Economic Impact Grows to $57.6 Billion in California, $114.1 Billion in U.S. - The Wine Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2016.