United Spirits Ltd reported a 64.3 per cent YoY rise in profit after tax(PAT) at ₹111 crore. On a sequential basis, profits dipped by 80.2 per cent from ₹563 crore in the last quarter.

The company had incorporated exceptional gains occurring from a slump sale transaction last quarter. The total income was fell by 19.9 per cent at ₹6635.4 for Q3 in contrast to ₹8284.4 crore in the last quarter.

Hina Nagarajan, Managing Director and CEO said, “We delivered a good quarter in an extremely volatile environment carefully navigating through Route to Market changes and input commodity cost inflation. This is the first quarter post the slump sale and franchising of the strategically reviewed popular portfolio.” During the quarter, the company completed the merger of Pioneer Distilleries Limited to progress towards a simplified legal entity footprint, she added. 

The sales of Prestige and Above segment grew 11.7 per cent with double-digit growth in its scotch portfolio. The rebased net sales for popular segment grew 2.3 per cent. 

EBITDA stood at ₹368 crore with a reported EBITDA margin of 13.2 per cent, down by 332bps, primarily driven by inflation led to gross margin contraction partly offset by targeted advertising and promotional (A&P) calibration.

“Looking ahead, in the shorter term, we do expect inflationary headwinds to continue. However, we remain optimistic about the medium to longer-term business prospects and our ability to harness growth opportunities with a sharpened focus, and our reshaped portfolio,” Nagarajan said. 

Published on January 24, 2023