Signature to revive range of brands

IPO watch

By Ben Schneiders

0livia Newton-John’s popularity, chocolates, swimwear, wine and reviving deceased brands is the business model of the soon-to-be-listed Signature Brands.

The company, which raised $3.2 million at 20c a share in its initial public offering, is set to list on the Australian Stock Exchange on Monday.

Its prospectus describes it as a “branded consumer products marketing company”, although it is also involved in the manufacture of some of its products.

The company is forecasting revenue of $7.6 million in 2004 and net profit of $682,000. It also says it will pay a dividend of lc a share.

It has not operated as a single company before this year, as the Brian Rochford swimwear brand and the children’s clothing label of Ozi Varmints have been added to the Koala Blue wine business.

Chairman Ian Duffell, a former managing director of Brazin, said the business could manage its very different products.

“It’s a marketing business, so the brands do cross-pollinate,” he said. “We are trying to get into high-profile lifestyle brands.”

Its strategy was centred around businesses that failed but still had strong brands, Mr Duffell said.

Important in this is Ms Newton-John’s Koala Blue brand. Her fashion empire, which specialised in kitsch Australiana, collapsed in 1992 as the recession hit.

“Brands can go out of business not because the consumer doesn’t like the product but maybe because there are other problems,” Mr Duffell said.

Koala Blue has since become a wine company. Its wine is sold in 23 countries, and 90 per cent of its sales are made overseas.

Mr Duffell said the United States was the biggest market.

“Everyone seems to love Olivia Newton-John,” he said.

Ms Newton-John, who is a shareholder in the company, along with Pat Farrar, will receive a royalty of $1 for every case of Koala Blue wine sold for the next 10 years.

The brand would expand into pre-mixed alcohol drinks, such as vodka and blueberries, as well as chocolate, water and children’s clothing, Mr Duffell said.

Another failed business that Signature Brands is trying to revive is the Brian Rochford brand. Mr Rochford’s swimwear business collapsed in 1998.