TRANSITIONAL CHANGES TAKE A TOLL ON CONSTELLATION

Several initiatives characterized Constellation during its first quarter in fiscal 2008, including a reduction in distributor inventories, U.K. market pains, the completion of the Svedka acquisition, Matthew Clark and the $500 million share repurchase program. Constellation saw a 65% drop in net income during its first quarter, while sales fell 25%. The plunging numbers were due to several “bumps in the road,” the term that Rob and Richard Sands used in referring to the recent initiative to reduce U.S. distributor