(TheDrinksBusiness) - Constellation Brands reported a 6% growth in net sales for the first quarter of its financial year, but said that higher grape prices and other costs had cut into its profits.

Net sales were up 6% to US$673 million, compared to the same period last year, but operating income was down by 5% to $104m.

Rob Sands, Constellation’s president and chief executive officer, said: “From an operational perspective, we are off to a positive start for the year, as we achieved our first quarter goals and objectives. I am particularly pleased with our commercial results as we continued to gain market share in IRI channels across our beer, wine and spirits businesses during the quarter.”

He added: “We experienced positive top line results for our U.S. wine and spirits business in the first quarter driven primarily by our Focus Brands including double-digit depletion trends for Rex Goliath, Kim Crawford, Nobilo, SIMI and Black Box. In addition, we continue to gain traction with our award winning portfolio of new products including Simply Naked, Thorny Rose and The Dreaming Tree.”

Constellation’s wine and spirits increased by 4%, primarily due to an increase in volume, with the acquisition of Mark West “complementing the organic growth.”