News: TWE UPDATE 1-Treasury Wine Estates half-year profit drops 13% on weak US sales

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Feb 15 (Reuters) - Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) on Thursday posted a 12.9% drop in first-half profit, hurt by declining sales in the United States, while weak demand for the winemaker's luxury and premium brands continued to weigh across its key segments.

Sales of premium brands in two big markets, the United States and Australia, have continued to fizzle out, making the company's path of recovery from the impact of losing the Chinese markets in 2020 bumpy.

Asia's largest economy imposed punishing tariffs on wine imports in late 2020 as part of an escalating trade dispute with the Australian government.

Net sales revenue from Treasury Premium Brands and Treasury Americas fell 7.9% and 6.5% on a constant currency basis, respectively, for the first half, while for its Penfolds brand, it increased 8.2%.

The world's largest self-distributing wine company said its profit attributable for six months ended Dec. 31 fell to A$166.7 million ($108.19 million) compared with A$188.2 million a year ago and a Jefferies estimate of A$123 million.

The Melbourne-based firm declared an interim dividend of 17 Australian cents per share, compared with 18 Australian cents last year.

($1 = 1.5408 Australian dollars)