WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Alcoholic beverage maker Constellation Brands, Inc. (STZ, CBR.AX, STZ-B) reported a surge in fourth-quarter net income to $157.2 million, from $81.7 million last year. Quarterly earnings amounted to $0.79 per class A share, versus $0.43 per class A share a year before. On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings per share of $0.76 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
The firm clocked $1.29 billion of net sales in the quarter, a sharp increase, compared with the prior-year figure of $695.9 million, whereas 9 analysts estimated revenues of $1.29 billion.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2015, the company sees earnings per share of $3.75 - $3.95 on a reported basis, and $3.95 - $4.15 on a comparable basis. Analysts project annual earnings per share of $3.95. For fiscal 2015, the company is targeting mid-to-high single digit net sales growth for the beer segment.
Commenting on the future, Constellation Brands said in a statement, 'For fiscal 2015, our free cash flow estimate of $425 - $500 million will be impacted by higher levels of capital investment than we originally planned for our Nava, Mexico brewery expansion. The increase versus our previous estimate is primarily related to higher engineering costs and incremental investments to improve brewery efficiency, flexibility and capacity utilization in an effort to better support the growth of the business. The total expansion investment is now targeted to be in the range of $900 million to $1.1 billion and we remain confident in our ability to complete this project in calendar 2016.'
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