Wine company Constellation Brands' profit jumps

The results beat Wall Street expectations, and its shares rose more than 4 percent.

The world's biggest wine company by volume earned $44.6 million, or 20 cents per Class A common share, in the quarter ended May 31, up from $29.8 million, or 13 cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales rose 3 percent to $932 million from $901 million after excise taxes.

Excluding one-time restructuring and acquisition-related charges, Constellation said its net income on a comparable basis rose to 34 cents a share from 21 cents. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had anticipated earnings of 31 cents a share on net sales of $906.1 million.

Its shares jumped 89 cents, or 4.5 percent, to close at $20.75 Tuesday.

The company's 300-plus brands run from jug wines to coveted California reds, beer imports such as Corona and St. Pauli Girl and liquors like Fleischmann's vodka and Black Velvet Canadian whiskey.

In December, it bought the U.S. wine business of Fortune Brands Inc. for $885 million, boosting its collection of $8-to-$11 wines led by Robert Mondavi Private Selection with popular brands such as Clos du Bois, Wild Horse and Geyser Peak. The following month, it sold its Almaden and Inglenook value wine brands and the Paul Masson winery to the San Francisco-based Wine Group LLC for $134 million.

The deals were part of its push in recent years to deal with a global wine glut by staking a bigger claim in the more profitable, higher end of the U.S. wine market.

About 70 percent of its U.S. wines now fall in premium categories on a volume basis, Chief Executive Rob Sands said in a conference call with analysts.