Higher costs, lower volumes may sober up near-term cheer in USL

Ongoing strategic review to help improve volume, profitability in the long term

The stock of the country’s largest alcoholic beverage maker United Spirits (USL) was up 1.7 per cent in trade after the company indicated that the ongoing strategic review of its popular segment of brands will be completed by March 2022. The review of the popular segment, which is the entry-level and lower-priced brands of USL, was to be completed by December this year.

The review may lead to higher proportion of franchising, divestment or increased investments in a few of the 30 brands in the popular segment. The other categories based on pricing are prestige, premium, and luxury.

Since 2016-17, the company