Cape Town — Increased input costs and the strong rand contributed to wine production and marketing company Winecorp reporting what it called a disappointing loss for the year to July.

The results are in line with the group's warning to shareholders in July that it would not be able to sustain the performance reported in the first half of the year.

The group suffered a headline loss of 1,40c a share for the year, compared with headline earnings of 16,98c a share the year before.

Management said that the strengthening of the rand against the group's major trading currency, the pound, resulted in an adverse swing of R8m at the bottom line.

The price of entry-level wines also increased and other input costs were affected by inflation.

"The results are disappointing as they do not reflect the successful move away from bulk wine sales to case wine sales which was achieved," said the company.

Group revenue was almost static at R85,7m. There was a 36% increase in exports of cases, offset by a decrease in sales of cases locally, as the group discontinued sales of unprofitable lines to certain customers.

The group has launched new initiatives, including increased production to meet export demand, the development of a new brand for the local market and the search for new markets.

Winecorp shares were untraded at 52c on Friday, which is more than three times the 15c recorded in August, but still below the 70c seen in November last year. The shares are traded infrequently.