United Spirits Q4 net dips 83% at Rs 10 cr

The company's foreign exchange loss stood at Rs 20 cr

United Spirits Ltd, a part of Vijay Mallya-led UB Group, today said its net profit declined by 83.28% to Rs 10.01 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012, mainly due to foreign exchange losses.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 59.88 crore for the same period of previous fiscal, United Spirits Ltd (USL) said in a filing to the BSE.

The company's foreign exchange loss stood at Rs 20.52 crore during the fourth quarter ended march 31, 2012, as against a loss of 27 lakh in the corresponding period of previous fiscal.

Net sales of the company, however, rose to Rs 1,862.69 crore for the fourth quarter, as against Rs 1,591.65 crore during the same period of previous financial year.

For the year ended March 31, 2012, the company posted a net profit of Rs 342.80 crore, as compared to Rs 385.47 crore in 2010-11.

The company said two key markets of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu dampened its performance during the year.

"..West Bengal followed with exorbitant increase in taxes and duties in August-September 2011 that led to a 35% drop in second half of the fiscal year," the company said.

In Tamil Nadu, state-owned buying agency targeted USL's national brands to favour local offerings thereby affecting off take of USL brands by 2 million cases in second half, it added.

The company said it plans to open up four markets in Africa and Asia in order to reinforce its position as the global leader.

"The company's emerging markets division is spearheading the foray into these markets with brands from both Indian and Whyte and Mackay stable, initially on an export basis from India and Scotland while progressively developing local manufacturing capability for the volume portfolio," it said.

The company's board, which met today, recommended a dividend of Rs 2.50 per equity share (25%) for the year ended 2011-12.