United Spirits has posted a 231 per cent increase in net profit at ₹211 crore for the fourth quarter of 2017-18 through reduction of interest costs and monetising non-core assets, coupled with lower exceptional items.
The liquor maker’s total income grew nearly 8 per cent to ₹7,021.40 crore, as per a statement from the company on Thursday.
Non-core asset divestment proceeds amounted to ₹159 crore and income from subsidiaries amounted to ₹60 crore.
Decrease in working capital was mainly driven by reduction in receivables and lower advances. Capex was focussed on upgrading strategically important manufacturing units.
Cash generated from the underlying business was used towards debt repayment of ₹807 crore resulting in a reduction in interest costs. Interest costs were ₹261 crore which was lower by 29 per cent driven by favourable rates and mix of debt.
“Our performance has improved in the fourth quarter as several regulatory challenges are now behind us. Underlying net sales growth during the quarter was 9 per cent driven by a strong performance of our prestige and above segment whose underlying net sales were up 14 per cent,” said Anand Kripalu, CEO.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.