The Universal Biosensors, Inc. (ASX: UBI) share price reached a multi-year high of 50 cents today. This comes as the company announced a new distribution agreement with Grapeworks Pty Ltd.
Its high was short lived, however, with the Universal share price pulling back to 46.5 cents, down 5.1% at the time of writing. In comparison, the All Ordinaries Index has remained positive all day, treading at 6,908 points, up 06%.
Distribution agreement
The Universal share price has backflipped from its multi-year high, despite an upbeat announcement.
In today's release, Universal advised it has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Grapeworks for the Australian market. The partnership will exist for 5 years, with standard renewal and termination options available to both parties.
Grapeworks provides beverage makers a range of winemaking, cider and brewing consumables and supplies. The company specialises in high-end bottle packaging and closures.
In other news today, Universal revealed it has launched a dedicated website page for its Sentia product, a digital wine analyser. The company anticipates this will support the sales and promotion of the new offering.
What did management say?
Commenting on the launch, Universal CEO John Sharman said:
The launch of Sentia represents UBI's first new product in almost 7 years and leverages UBI's core biosensor platform technology. We believe Sentia has the potential to change the way wine testing is performed globally.
Grapeworks is Australia's leading wine supply company offering a complete range of production equipment, winemaking, cider and brewing consumables and supplies. We are delighted to partner with Grapeworks who have shown their confidence in the future of Sentia with a first order for product worth more than $300,000.
Grapeworks managing director Malcom Wilson added:
Sentia offers a unique solution for winemakers and we are pleased to be Australia's exclusive distributor. We are excited by the prospect of selling Sentia and believe the future testing capability for glucose, fructose, and malic acid will add significant value to the winemaking industry in Australia and around the world.
About the Universal share price
The Universal share price has been a strong performer since the beginning of the year, rising 156%. Although lower at the time of writing, the Universal share price hit a multi-year high of 50 cents today.
Universal has a market capitalisation of $84.3 million.
