United Breweries raises profit in January-through-March quarter

India | United Breweries, the major brewer in India, reported a 20.5 percent increase in quarterly profit on 5 May, lifted by solid demand for higher-priced beers and lower excise duty costs.

The Kingfisher beer maker's standalone profit rose to INR 973.8 million (USD 11.50 million) in the fourth quarter ended 31 March, from INR 808.4 million a year earlier. United Breweries, which is majority-owned by Heineken, reported a 7.6 percent decline in revenue after it briefly stopped supplies to one of India's top beer consuming states, Telangana, in January. Still, volume sales were up 5 percent in the quarter, with sales of premium beers, led by Kingfisher Ultra Max and Heineken Silver, jumping 24 percent. Total expenses dropped 8.6 percent, led by a 21 percent decline in excise duty.

In the reported quarter, United Breweries was at odds with the state of Telangana over delayed payments and a lack of government approval for price increases since 2019/20.

New greenfield brewery

United Breweries said it is investing INR 7.5 billion (USD 88 million) to build a new greenfield brewery in Uttar Pradesh. This is the company's first greenfield investment in 12 years. The brewery is expected to start operations by early 2027 with an initial capacity of 2 million hl per year, potentially expanding to 5 million hl. This investment aims to tap into the growing beer market in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and home to more than 240 million people.