United Spirits Q3 net declines 27% to Rs 214 cr, income dips to Rs 6,631 cr

Diageo-controlled liquor maker United Spirits on Tuesday said its consolidated net profit declined by 27 per cent to Rs 214 crore in the third quarter ended December 31, 2022.

The company had reported a net profit of Rs 295 crore in the October-December quarter of last fiscal.

Total income declined to Rs 6,631 crore for the period under review as against Rs 8,917 crore in the year-ago period, United Spirits said in a regulatory filing.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2022, the Bengaluru-based company reported a net profit of Rs 1,023 crore as compared with Rs 632 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income declined to Rs 22,079 crore as against Rs 23,306 crore in the April-December period of last financial year, it said.

"We delivered a good quarter in an extremely volatile environment, carefully navigating through the route to market changes and input commodity cost inflation," United Spirits Managing Director & CEO Hina Nagarajan said.

This is the first quarter post the slump sale and franchising of the strategically reviewed popular portfolio, she added.

"During the quarter, we completed the merger of Pioneer Distilleries Ltd to progress towards a simplified legal entity footprint," Nagarajan noted.

She further said: "I am also happy to announce that the Board of Directors have approved a multi-year supply chain agility programme. The programme is expected to strengthen our end-to-end supply chain thereby making it fit for the future."

Looking ahead, in the shorter term, the company expects inflationary headwinds to continue, Nagarajan stated.

"However, we remain optimistic about the medium to longer term business prospects and our ability to harness growth opportunities with sharpened focus and our reshaped portfolio," she added.

Shares of the company on Tuesday ended 1.32 per cent down at Rs 817 apiece on the BSE.