United Breweries shares jump 15% after quarterly profit nearly triples

Shares of United Breweries rose 15% on Wednesday, October 28, after the Indian brewer reported that profit nearly tripled in the July-September quarter, helped by strong sales growth, a faster shift toward premium beer and tighter cost control.

United Breweries, the Bengaluru-based maker of Kingfisher beer and a company controlled by Heineken, said consolidated net profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2026/27 rose to 1.35 billion rupees, from about 463 million rupees a year earlier, according to reports by Mint and NDTV Profit that cited the company’s results and exchange filing.

Consolidated revenue from operations increased 23.7% from a year earlier to 46.23 billion rupees. Total income rose 24.31%, while total expenses increased 21.57%, the reports said. The profit growth was also helped by higher other income. That line rose to about 413 million rupees from about 149 million rupees, including roughly 369 million rupees in interest on income-tax refunds.

The company said volumes sold to distributors increased 16% in the quarter. Premium beer volumes sold to distributors climbed 38%, showing much faster growth than the broader business. The figures refer to shipments into the distribution channel, not direct consumer purchases at retail outlets or bars.

United Breweries said net sales rose 24%, outpacing volume growth by 8 percentage points. The company attributed that gap to a mix of higher volumes, price increases, premiumization and a favorable geographic and operating mix. The difference between sales growth and volume growth does not, by itself, mean that prices rose 8% across the board.

The strongest gains came from higher-priced brands. Heineken Silver volumes rose 67%, while Kingfisher Ultra grew 44%, according to the company’s earnings statement. United Breweries also said premium volume growth accelerated by 31 percentage points from the previous quarter, underscoring how quickly demand shifted toward its more expensive portfolio in the period.

Operating performance also improved. The brewer said EBITDA rose 108% from a year earlier, while gross margin improved by 194 basis points. In public summaries of the results, the company also pointed to a sharp improvement in EBITDA margin and EBIT margin. Some of the publicly cited operating-margin figures were presented differently across the materials summarized by news outlets, and those differences were not fully reconciled in the summaries that were available.

The market reacted quickly. The stock climbed to an intraday high of Rs 1,316 on Wednesday, October 28. The move came two days after the shares touched a 52-week low of Rs 1,128.15 on Monday, October 26. Even after the rally, the stock remained below its 52-week high of Rs 1,845.90 reached in October 2025.

For the first half of fiscal 2026/27, United Breweries reported volume growth of 12% and net sales growth of 14%. The company said EBIT increased 35% in the April-September period, while profit after tax rose 31%. Those figures suggest the second quarter was stronger than the first in both volume and value growth.

Management said the business benefited from stronger category demand, a better brand mix and disciplined execution. Vivek Gupta, the company’s managing director and chief executive, said premiumization remained a key driver of value creation and that United Breweries planned to increase commercial investments in the coming quarter to support further growth.

The brewer is also adding capacity to support demand. According to the company, it commissioned two new can lines at its Nizam and Ellora breweries in Telangana and Maharashtra. It said those additions should improve its ability to serve rising demand, especially as premium brands expand across more markets.

United Breweries said it would continue to focus on widening distribution, strengthening its portfolio, improving productivity and controlling costs as it tries to capture more growth in India’s beer market.