United Breweries gains 3% as Q4 PAT jumps 68% YoY, volumes strengthen

NEW DELHI – Shares of United Breweries climbed 2.9 per cent in early trade on Wednesday as the beer maker reported a 67.92 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 163.78 crore in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year, led by strong volumes.

The company, which is controlled by Dutch multinational Heineken NV, had posted a net profit of Rs 97.53 crore during the January-March quarter of the previous fiscal.

United Breweries’ share price rose to a high of Rs 1,580 as against Rs 1,534.90 at previous close on the BSE.

For the period under review, the company’s sales rose 10.65 per cent to Rs 1,709.17 crore as against Rs 1,544.64 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2021, reports said.

For the previous financial year as a whole, United Breweries’ profit registered a rise of 222.79 per cent to Rs 365.46 crore as against Rs 113.22 crore during the previous year ended March 2021.

The company’s sales rose 37.60 per cent to Rs 5838.44 crore in the year ended March 2022 as against Rs 4243.09 crore during the previous year ended March 2021.

Its revenue from operations was up 1.28 per cent to Rs 3,664.71 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 3,618.09 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.

"The fourth quarter witnessed robust year-on-year and sequential growth (volume) of 7 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively," said UBL in its earnings result statement.

The growth was mixed during the quarter with January being muted due to the impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, while March showed a promising start of the peak season, it added.

During the quarter, its gross margin was lower by 330 basis points as compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year due to inflationary pressures witnessed in the prices of malt, packaging materials and crude oil, said UBL.