Heineken-controlled United Breweries halts beer supply in India's Telangana state (updated)

United Breweries

08/01/2025 09:08

(Adds details paragraph 2 onwards)
       Jan 8 (Reuters) - United Breweries  UBBW.NS  said on
Wednesday that it has suspended supplying beer to a state-run
corporation in the southern Indian state of Telangana, which
will halt sales of popular beer brands such as Heineken and
Kingfisher in one of the country's top liquor-selling states. 
    The suspension comes less than a month after Reuters
reported that Indian antitrust body raided offices of alcohol
giants Pernod Ricard  PERP.PA , and Anheuser-Busch InBev
 ABI.BR  to investigate accusations of price collusion with
retailers in the Telangana state.
    United Breweries said the decision to halt was mainly due to
significant and ongoing operating losses in the state.
    "Despite our continuous efforts over the past two years,
there has been no increase in the base prices offered for our
products. This has resulted in escalating losses, making our
operations in the State unviable," United Breweries said in a
statement. 
    Shares of United Breweries fell 7% after the news and were
on track for its worst day in nearly four years.   
        
  

 (Reporting by Indranil Sarkar, Nandan Mandayam and Manvi Pant
in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
 ((Manvi.Pant@thomsonreuters.com; +918447554364;))