Beer major United Breweries benefited from lower interest cost and effective capital management during the first quarter of the current fiscal to post a ₹30.84-crore net profit, against a loss for ₹114.29 crore in the same period last year.

Its total income rose 110 per cent to ₹2,657.27 crore while EBITDA for the quarter was ₹102 crore compared with a loss of ₹94 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

In a statement, the company said effective working capital management resulted in higher liquidity and lower gearing, resulting in interest costs being lower by 46 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. United Breweries’ net debt stood at ₹123 crore with capex programmes focused on safety, statutory & compliance. “While the industry outlook continues to be volatile given the uncertain trajectory of the pandemic, the company continues to be optimistic about the long-term growth drivers of the industry and is committed to strengthening its market position,” the company said..

It said while the company reacted with agility to changing market circumstances, the business commenced in April 2021 on a good trend but a spike in infections and related Government restrictions towards the last weeks of April resulted in challenging market conditions.

The next two months of the quarter witnessed muted business with some recovery towards the end of June as markets started to gradually open. Restrictions in the quarter were less stringent when compared to the similar period of the previous year with almost all the markets partially functional in some form, resulting in a 115 per cent growth in primary volumes. “June 2021 volumes were at about half that of volumes in June 2019. UBL pro-actively focused on health & safety measures of its employees and stakeholders, business continuity, business impact mitigations and cash management while continuing to manage all elements of costs and capital investments in this uncertain environment,” the statement said.

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