United Brewe-ries Ltd , the flagship of the Vijaya Mallya owned Rs 3500 crore group, has clocked a modest rise in its turnover and profits for the first five months of the current fiscal.
The company reported a sales turnover of Rs 118 crore compared with Rs 106 crore in the corresponding five months period last year. The profit before tax (PBT) stood at Rs 6 crore against Rs 4 crore earlier.
The increase has been modest despite the volume growth which was 9.6 million dozen bottles of beer (9.01 million dozen).Talking to the media after the companys AGM, Vijay Mallya said: It is a bad trend to bring liquor and beer under controlled price regime like pharma products.
Also Read
Mallya said the group has decided to exploit vast tracks of land in the heart of Bangalore to set up a five-star hotel and a commercial complex-cum-residential flats. The group owns the property on which UB House stands but the decision to relocate its brewery from the city centre had resulted in the company owning over 20 acres of prime commercial land. The group has already begun negotiations with an internationally reputed hotel chain for a tie-up. When fully exploited, Vijay Mallya claimed the property would be worth over Rs 1000 crore.
Similarly, UB Networks (Bangalore), which has bagged the contract for the states cablenetwork and information super highway project is also scouting for a third partner. Mallya said: Both UB and UIH Inc of US have decided to scout for a suitable third partner to implement the project. He said a decision would be taken shortly to begin work on the project.
The UB group listed companies would actively consider buying shares of the company to trim the equity base. We will use the opportunity when the Company Law Amendment becomes a law, Mallya stated.
United Breweries recorded sales of Rs 257 crore for the year ended March 1997 against Rs 199 crore in 1995-96.
This represents a growth of 29 per cent on an annualised basis. PAT was at Rs 8.91 crore against Rs 10.03 crore even on annualised basis despite the fact that PBT was higher at Rs 18.94 crore ( Rs 18.22 crore) thanks to the tax burden. The AGM approved a resolution to declare dividend payout of 20 per cent for 1996-97.