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Producing the Drink of
Ancient Times: Lion-Gri International, Inc.
by Glenn Wilkins - AllPennyStocks.com News Reporter
August 18, 2005 (AllPennyStocks.com Media, Inc.) - Some
companies grace this page by their modern, state-of-the-art
technology, by their efforts to be at the forefront of
battling what unknown forces baffle or threaten us, whether
through terrorism or disease. What you're about to read
represents a departure from that trend, for this is a company
that deals in something familiar, comfortable, pleasurable and
as old as the hills.
The alcohol industry has proven through the centuries to be
plague-, war-,
Prohibition-, depression- and recession-proof. Bars to entry
are virtually
non-existent, enabling microbreweries, distilleries and small
wineries the
world over to make a name for themselves - and perhaps a small
profit -
simply by knowing its market and putting out a product that
keeps that
market satisfied.
One such company, out of the former Soviet republic of
Moldova, is Lion-Gri
International. The shroud placed by the Cold War over Moldova
prevented us
from knowing much else about it, but a closer look reveals a
wine industry
dating back eons, with company literature claiming that wine
was first
produced in that region as early as 5,000 B.C. The folks who
run this
bright, new company (founded in 1997) represent the keepers of
the
tradition, a new generation of winemakers in Moldova.
Lion-Gri combines tradition with progressive growing
techniques. Its
technology includes growing grapes on privately owned
vineyards, grape
processing, quality wine production, aging, bottling and final
product
sales. Company literature points to a high level of production
culture and
professionalism, and never-ending improvement in business
practices.
The company owns and operates two large primary processing
wineries that
have been reequipped to meet all European requirements and a
bottling
company with two bottling lines, which bottle 12000
bottles/hour. The head enterprise of LION-GRI is the winery
for secondary wine production, with capacity to bottle 50
million bottles per year. The company has substantial
resources on which to draw for their product with 3600 acres
under ownership of which half is already planted.
Lion-Gri has already made inroads into what used to be the
Mother Country.
Even after the Soviet Union crumbled, Russia still imported
less than 200
million litres of wine from other countries. By 2001, that
figure had leapt
36 percent to more than 256 million, in a land known more for
imbibing vodka
than wine, thanks to a new agreement the company entered into
with a Russian
exporting agency. A recent survey found 10 percent of Russians
said they
drank wine at least once a week, more than half at least once
a month, and
85 percent of that wine came from Georgia and Moldova. Lion-Gri,
one of
Moldova's biggest producers, ships out more than 15 Million
bottles of wine
a year not only to Russia, but also Poland, Western Europe and
the U.S.
Lion-Gri's product is also starting to tickle the palates
of wine experts
throughout the world: the company's Sauvignon Blanc and White
Brut Sparkling
wines were included in a catalogue of the 1,000 best wines in
the world for
2004 by Vinalies International of France, the country many
take to be the
home of the finest wines. The company is also making a name
with its Merlot,
Cabernet, Pinot Franc, Chardonnay and Codru products.
Lion-Gri is one of few Moldovan companies to have ventured
into the North
American securities markets and represents a unique investment
opportunity from this region. LGII has grown and become an
attractive
alternative to stocks in the overly publicized sectors, such
as energy or technology, which are all too often covered in
mainstream media.
You might just want to say that LGII is a "pioneer" or is
"tuned into the
North American equities markets". Being one of the first to
list publicly
abroad, Lion-Gri is leading the way for companies from the
under-performing
economies of Eastern Europe, to the capital rich ground of the
North
American securities markets.
This benefits both sides as investors gain opportunities in
regions and
industry they would not normally have access to. Lion-Gri CEO
Greg Sonic was recognized for his role in building this
company from the ground up by being named Director of the Year
for the Commonwealth of Independent States (the name given to
such former Soviet republics as Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan
and Belarus).
The rich wine soil of a poor country has yielded much to
Lion-Gri
International, which last year reported assets of nearly $19
Million (all
figures in U.S. funds unless specified otherwise) and
liabilities of just
below $12 Million for a gross profit of slightly over $7
Million. Lion-Gri
reported $0.01 in earnings per share for 2004 and a return to
profitability.
More remarkable still, the price of this company's stock
(which trades on
the OTCBB under the symbol LGII) peaked around this time last
year at 47
cents, before fading to its current seven cents. Given,
though, that this
unlikely wine industry up-and-comer is creating converts to
its product, and
turning a small profit (and heads) while doing it, this could
be a reason
for small-cap stock investors to shout "Cheers!" and give LGII
a closer
look.
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