India's United Breweries posts higher Q1 profit on premium growth, lower costs

Fsn E-Commerce Ventures

22/07/2025 15:34

July 22 (Reuters) - United Breweries UBBW.NS, India's largest beer maker, reported a nearly 6% rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday, benefiting from lower excise duty costs and strong demand for its premium beers.

The Kingfisher beer maker's consolidated profit came in at 1.84 billion rupees ($21.30 million) for the quarter ended June 30, up from 1.74 billion rupees a year earlier.

United Breweries, majority-owned by Dutch brewer Heineken HEIN.AS, posted a nearly 16% rise in net sales, led by a 11% growth in volumes, higher pricing and premiumisation.

Total expenses fell 7.8%, driven by lower excise duty costs.

KEY CONTEXT

Beer makers in India are riding a wave of resilient premium consumption, as upper middle-class and affluent consumers, largely insulated from the rising living costs in metros, continue to spend freely on higher-end goods, including pricier brews.

The shift toward premiums has helped offset broader inflationary pressures and subdued demand at the mass-market level, fuelling earnings growth for players in the alcohol and lifestyle segments.

Spirits-maker Radico Khaitan RADC.NS, retail chain Shoppers Stop SHOP.NS and beauty retailer Nykaa FSNE.NS have capitalised on this trend in recent quarters, reporting strong gains driven by their premium portfolios.

Premium segment grew 46% in the reported quarter, higher than the overall volume growth of 11%.

  PEER PERFORMANCE

Valuation (next 12 months)
Estimates (next 12 months)
Analysts' sentiment
RIC
PE
EV/EBITDA
Revenue growth (%)
Profit growth (%)
Mean rating*
No. of analysts
Stock to price target**
Div yield (%)
United Breweries
UBBW.NS
66.31
41.73
12.59
42.86
Hold
11
0.99
0.49
United Spirits
UNSP.NS
53.17
36.36
-40.25
13.30
Buy
10
0.83
0.88
Radico Khaitan
RADC.NS
68.87
42.39
13.31
37.40
Buy
6
1.00
0.15
Tilaknagar Industries
TILK.NS
44.83
31.51
16.67
-6.89
Strong Buy
1
1.07
0.12

  * The mean of analysts' ratings standardised to a scale of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, and Strong Sell

** The ratio of the stock's last close to analysts' mean price target; a ratio above 1 means the stock is trading above the PT

 APRIL TO JUNE STOCK PERFORMANCE

-- All data from LSEG

 -- $1 = 86.3650  Indian rupees

United Breweries Stock Performance https://tmsnrt.rs/46X2okb

 (Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Writing by Chandini Monnappa; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

 ((Ananta.agarwal@thomsonreuters.com;))