UBL Q1 profits down by 4.7% to Rs 123 cr

Shekhar Ramamurthy will take from Kalyan Ganguly as the new managing director

United Breweries Ltd (UBL) reported 4.7% dip in first quarter profits to Rs 122.81 crore as raw material costs and employee benefits increased.   Revenue grew at 3.85% to Rs 1500.81 crore as beer sales increased during the key summer season, when beer consumption is higher.

UBL posted profits of Rs  128.8 crore on sales of Rs 1444.45 between April and June 2014, it said in statement to the Bombay stock Exchange.

UBL has appointed chief operating officer Shekhar Ramamurthy as the new managing director, replacing Kalyan Ganguly who is retiring on July 31.

Analysts say that net volume increased by 1%, much below their estimates of 6% volume growth during the period.

“Industry volume declined 2% year-on-year ( YoY) for the quarter and the company’s volume fell 1%  YoY. Volume decline continued in Tamil Nadu. During the initial part of the quarter, supply to Orissa was suspended by leading beer players because of disagreement over pricing, an issue that has been resolved. Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh reported good volume growth,” said analysts Krishnan Sambamoorthy and Aditya Joshi from Nirmal Bang Equities in a note to clients.

UBL stock declined by Rs 8.40 or 0.83% to close at Rs 999.75 at the end of trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange