United Spirits shares surge over 5% after net profit rises 36% in September quarter

Shares of United Spirits, the country's leading alcohol beverages maker, rose as much as 5.75% to hit an intraday high of ₹1,474.90 on the National Stock Exchange a day after it reported its September quarter earnings. On the BSE, United Spirits shares rose as much as 6.18% to hit an intraday high of ₹1,479.15.

United Spirits on Thursday post market hours reported consolidated net profit of ₹464 crore in the second quarter of current financial year, marking an increase of 36% from ₹341 crore in the same period last year.

Its revenue from operations advanced 8% to ₹7,199 crore in July-September period from ₹6,672 crore a year earlier.

The Bengaluru-based company reported strong operational performance as its EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) also known as operating profit rose 32% to ₹660 crore and its operating profit margin expanded by 160 basis points to 9.17%.

“We have delivered a strong quarter on topline and EBITDA growth and ended the first half in-line with our expectation while navigating the regulatory headwinds in the state of Maharashtra," said Praveen Someshwar, CEO & Managing Director, United Spirits.

"Looking ahead, the second half of the year is the all-important festive, holiday and wedding season. We are excited about our commercial and marketing programs bringing our brand portfolio alive for the consumers while driving category salience and growth,” Someshwar added.

On a standalone basis, gross profit grew 16.2% and reported gross margin was at 47.1%, an expansion of 190 bps over the previous year same quarter. This is on back of prior year headline pricing flow-through, revenue growth management initiatives, mix improvement, sustained productivity as well as relatively stable COGS inflation for major input commodity basket, United Spirits said.

In the second quarter of current financial year, the Prestige & Above segment accounted for 89.6% of net sales, up 0.7 percentage points over the same period last year. Prestige & Above segment net sales increased 12.4% during the second quarter, United Spirits added.

As of 9:36 am, United Spirits shares traded 5.46% higher at ₹1,470.70, outperforming the NIFTY Next 50 index which was up 0.26%.