Shares in Treasury Wine Estates Ltd (ASX: TWE) jumped today after it announced additional savings measures that are forecast to reap $50 million in savings over the next five years for the wine producer.
The stock climbed 1.6% in early trade to $5.24 on the news as management outlined plans to consolidate and divest parts of its operations in the United States and Australia.
The targeted savings are significant given that analysts are forecasting a net profit of around $164 million for 2015-16 and could help ease concerns that the stock is overvalued with 10 out of 12 brokers polled on Reuters rating the stock a "hold" or "sell".
Treasury Wine's Australian properties such as the Ryecroft winery, T'Gallant and Bailey's will be sold, while production at its Asti winery in California will cease.
The packaging and warehousing facility at Mildura, Victoria, will also close as operations will be consolidated at the company's Wolf Blass plant in South Australia.
The restructure will cost the company $35 million and there will be job losses, although Treasury Wine did not provide any details.
Coincidentally, management had flagged $35 million in overhead cost savings for 2014-15 and said that it has identified a further $15 million in savings that can be realised in the next financial year.
The stock is up by nearly 50% in the past year as headwinds caused by a global supply glut and the high Australian dollar eased. The perception that Treasury Wine is a takeover target is also giving the stock a boost.
To put the gain in context, even the superstars of the ASX such as Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and blood products company CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) are struggling to keep up. CBA is up by 21% and CSL is up by 35% over the past year.
News of the streamlining of its operations will provide another tailwind for the stock and will prompt analysts to upgrade their forecasts for the stock.
However, this is unlikely to address shorter-term overvaluation concerns as the bulk of the $50 million savings will be over the next few years. In the meantime, Treasury Wine still has to contend with its 2015-16 consensus forecast price-earnings multiple of 22x and a pretty skinny yield of around 2.5%.
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