United Breweries Not Concerned About Q3 Profit Dip, Focused On Structural Changes To Drive Growth: CEO Gupta

United Breweries Ltd. is unfazed by the sharp decline in its third quarter profit and expects stronger growth in the coming quarters, supported by ongoing structural reforms, the company's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Vivek Gupta told NDTV Profit.

The Kingfisher beer maker posted a 54.9% year-on-year decline in its net profit at Rs 38.3 crore in the three months ended December from Rs 84.9 crore in the year-ago quarter. The drop in profit was largely due to an exceptional loss of Rs 25.8 crore, which weighed on the bottom line.

In contrast, revenue from operations climbed 9.6% year-on-year to Rs 1,998.4 crore from Rs 1,822.7 crore in the same quarter of the previous year, backed by higher sales volume and better product mix.

"We are not concerned about a quarterly profit outlook because structurally we are getting better. On a year-to-date basis, we are fine, and I think our outlook is looking positive given some of the recent changes in the market," Gupta said.

The United Breweries top executive said that he is “absolutely pleased” with the volumes, which grew 8% on a yearly basis during the third quarter.

"Our premium volumes grew 34%. We grew market share throughout the country on a very large and competitive beer market," he said.

Vivek Gupta mentioned that the company is focused on driving strong revenue growth, highlighting the challenges in the current market.

"We are really focused on driving top-line growth and expanding the category in a tough circumstance. When I say tough circumstances, beer is becoming less affordable in many states because of the high taxation and increase in consumer pricing. So, that is a challenge that we are working on. But despite that, we are pleased with the topline momentum, the category expansion," he said.

Vivek Gupta said the company has been ramping up its production and focusing on premium launches in anticipation of the first quarter of the financial year ending March 2026.

"If you remember in 2024, during April, May, and June, there were general elections that impacted the volumes, so this time we are expecting a slightly stronger volume growth because there is no election disruption. To prepare for that, we invested a lot of money in our breweries on repair and maintenance so that we are ready for more production,” he said.

Gupta mentioned the company plans to take its recent premium launches into newer markets.

“We launched Amstel Grande in Maharashtra and in West Bengal, which is off to a great start. We are going to expand that in more markets," he said.

United Breweries closed nearly flat, up by 0.5% at Rs 2,040.4 apiece on the NSE in comparison to the benchmark Nifty 50's decline of 0.44% to 22,929.25 points.