Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has been served with another class action alleging the business engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
The lawsuit, filed by Maurice Blackburn, on behalf of plaintiff Steven Napier, centres around TWE’s declining performance in its US wine business since mid 2018, and losses suffered by shareholders after its full-year results announcement in January 2020, in which the FY20 EBITS growth forecast was downgraded from an anticipated rate of 15-20 per cent to 5-10 per cent.
“There was a significant market reaction to this announcement. Over the following two days, Treasury’s share price dropped by approximately 20 per cent in total, with a drop of 25 per cent on 29 January 2020 alone,” a statement from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers read.
The class action claims TWE breached its continuous disclosure obligations in the period from June 30, 2018 to January 28, 2020.
The lawsuit, also filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria, follows one from law firm Slater and Gordon filed in early April and a previous action taken by Maurice Blackburn settled in 2017 for $49 million.
TWE said in a statement to the ASX on Friday that it “strongly denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend the further proceeding.”
Last month, TWE proposed potentially spinning off its Penfolds label, which would see the brand listed as a separate business on the ASX by the end of 2021.
