United Spirits Q2 net profit profit up Rs 929 crore

New Delhi: Liquor major United Spirits Monday posted a net profit of Rs 929.3 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015, on the back of Rs 870 crore share sale in United Breweries Ltd.

The company had reported a net loss of Rs 26.9 crore for the same period of previous fiscal.

Net sales of the company rose to Rs 2,122.17 crore during the September quarter, from Rs 2,007.8 crore during the same period of previous fiscal, United Spirits said in a filing to the BSE.

For the six months ended September 30, the company posted a net profit of Rs 949.22 crore, as compared to a net loss of Rs 85.86 crore in the same period of previous fiscal.

"Our F16 half year results are starting to show the dividends of our comprehensive strategic plan focused behind our power brands with a clear prioritised geographical participation strategy," United Spirits CEO Anand Kripalu said.

The divestment of the UBL shares during the quarter has generated Rs 870 crore of free cash that has been used to retire debt and has reduced our net debt position to less than Rs 4,000 crore from over Rs 5,000 crore six months ago, he added.

"Our renovations strategy on our core brands has commenced with encouraging results from the re-launch of our Royal Challenge brand and we look forward to the McDowell's No.1 re-launch that is currently underway," Kripalu said.

He added that the company faced challenges in the last three months including specific industry challenges in states such as Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh plus a temporary pricing related challenge in Karnataka.

"The highly regulated environment in respect of pricing remains a key challenge for the industry as a whole and needs to be remedied," Kripalu said.

In a separate filing, the company said it has appointed Sanjeev Churiwala as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective November 16, 2015.

Churiwala joins USL from LafargeHolcim's Indian subsidiary Ambuja Cements, where he held the position of CFO since early 2011, the company said.

He replaces Vinod Rao, Finance Director, Asia Pacific at Diageo, who has been serving as interim Head of Finance.

Shares of United Spirits today ended at Rs 3,250.20 apiece on the BSE, up 3.11 per cent from previous close.