ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Constellation Brands Inc. said Wednesday it lost $406.8 million in its fourth fiscal quarter, narrowly missing Wall Street expectations as it restructured and holiday season wine sales fell in Britain and Australia.

The world's biggest wine company by volume, with brands such as Robert Mondavi, Clos Du Bois and Hardys, Constellation projected its earnings this fiscal year will fall in a range bracketing Wall Street's average expectation.

The company lost the equivalent of $1.88 a share in the December-to-February period. But that was less than half its loss of $834.8 million, or $3.91, a year earlier.

Constellation shares fell in afternoon trading to 43 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $11.21 - near the low mark in its 52-week range of $10.66 to $23.48.

Sales dipped 17 percent to $735.1 million from $884.4 million, weakened by disappointing demand in Britain and Australia.

Excluding one-time charges, the company, which also markets Corona beer and Svedka vodka, earned $46.7 million, or 21 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who also exclude one-time items, on average expected earnings per share a penny higher and sales of $790.7 million.

In the current fiscal year, the company is projecting a profit of $1.60 to $1.70 a share, excluding one-time items, and analysts on average expect fiscal 2010 earnings of $1.65 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Two weeks ago, citing the global economic slowdown, Constellation Brands said it would cut roughly 400 jobs, or 5 percent of its work force of 8,000, this year. It also lowered its profit forecast for fiscal 2009 to a range of $1.60 to $1.62 a share from a January estimate of $1.68 to $1.72 a share.

In the latest fiscal year, it lost $301.4 million, or $1.40 a share, versus a loss of $613.3 million, or $2.83 a share, a year earlier. Net sales fell to $3.65 billion from $3.77 billion a year earlier.

"Turbulent global trading conditions negatively impacted our sales mix in the fourth quarter, which in turn affected our gross profit margins," Chief Executive Robert Sands said. "However, we have been able to partially offset these challenges through cost reductions which reflect our flexibility to quickly adapt."

In fiscal 2009, restructuring charges and acquisition-related and other special items totaled $658 million before taxes, including $468 million in the fourth quarter.

Constellation Brands has shifted its focus in recent years to the faster-growing and more lucrative premium end of the wine and spirits markets. With the economy worsening, more shoppers reached for cheaper wines this winter, Chief Financial Officer Bob Ryder said in a conference call with analysts.

"If they could save $2 on a bottle of wine, they might buy a lower-end product," he said. "We basically saw a mix-shift down to less expensive products, which for us generally means lower gross profit margins. But there was probably some overreaction from distributors, retailers and consumers in the fourth quarter and we don't really expect that to continue to that extent in fiscal 2010."

Branded wine sales slumped 17 percent to $619 million in the quarter, with a 1 percent increase in U.S. sales on a constant currency basis offset by a 16 percent drop in Europe and a 4 percent fall in Australia and New Zealand.

Beer sales in its Crown Imports wholesale business joint venture eased 1 percent to $252 million. Sales of spirits fell 3 percent to $93 million despite a 50 percent gain in organic net sales of Svedka - a premium vodka produced in Sweden that the company acquired in March 2007.

Based in Victor, 20 miles southeast of Rochester, the company's more than 250 brands range from jug wines to coveted California reds, including the Ravenswood, Estancia and Wild Horse labels. It also imports Corona and St. Pauli Girl beer.

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