New Delhi: Vijay Mallya-led United Breweries reported over eleven-fold rise in net profit to Rs 67.71 crore for the quarter ended March 31. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 5.85 crore during the same period of previous fiscal. The Bangalore-based firm, which markets various beer brands, including Kingfisher and Zingaro, said its board has approved to acquire assets of Pacific Spirits Pvt Ltd for Rs 105 crore.
The company's net sales rose to Rs 973.9 crore for the fourth quarter as compared to Rs 931.92 crore in the same period of previous fiscal, United Breweries Ltd said in a filing to the BSE. For the year ended March 31, 2014, the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 226.02 crore, against Rs 172.11 crore in the previous fiscal. Consolidated net sales of the company rose to Rs 3,787.6 crore for the year as compared to Rs 3,578.99 crore in the 2012-13 fiscal. "The fourth quarter performance was in line with expectations and similar to that in the previous quarter," the company said.
The positive development in revenue has been partly driven by price increases and partly through optimisation of sales mix, it added. In order to augment brewing capacities in Rajasthan, the company's board has approved acquiring the brewery assets -- land, building, plant, equipment -- of Pacific Spirits, the company said. The brewery is located at Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan. The acquisition is subject to due diligence and securing necessary approvals, it added.
"The parties are in the process of completing various formalities for issue of statutory licenses, permissions in the name of United Breweries Ltd and upon receipt of necessary approvals and completion of due diligence, requisite documents for sale of brewery assets shall be registered," it said. The company's board has also recommended payment of a dividend of Re 0.90 per equity share of Re 1 each for the fiscal ended March 31, 2014 and has also approved payment of 3 per cent dividend on cumulative redeemable preference shares to Scottish & Newcastle India Ltd. Shares of United Breweries were trading at Rs 787.30 apiece during afternoon trade on the BSE, up 1.85 per cent from its previous close.
