United Spirits, the country’s largest liquor maker, reported a resilient set of earnings for Q3FY26, with both net profit and revenue exceeding Street estimates, even as operating margins came in below analysts’ expectations.
The Diageo-controlled company posted a net profit of Rs 529 crore for the quarter, up 11.8% year-on-year and higher than the Bloomberg consensus estimate of Rs 500 crore. Revenue for the quarter (net of excise) stood at Rs 3,683 crore, an increase of 7.3% over last year and marginally ahead of analysts’ expectations of Rs 3,637 crore.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), however, came in at Rs 618 crore, up 5.1% year-on-year but below analysts’ estimates of Rs 640 crore for the quarter. Ebitda margins declined to 16.8% from 17.1% a year earlier, while consensus expectations had pegged margins at 17.5%.
Margin Headwinds
Net sales value (NSV) for Q3FY26 was Rs 3,694 crore, reflecting growth of 7.6% year-on-year. Growth was driven primarily by the Prestige & Above (P&A) segment, which recorded NSV growth of 8.2% during the quarter.
Premiumization Play
United Spirits said overall NSV growth was partly offset by adverse policy-led impacts in Maharashtra and the absence of a one-time retail pipeline fill in Andhra Pradesh in the year-ago period. The Popular segment saw NSV decline 4.6% during the quarter, largely due to the impact in Maharashtra.
For the first nine months of FY26, the Prestige & Above segment accounted for 89.4% of total net sales value, up 0.7 percentage points year-on-year, with segment NSV rising 9.8%. The Popular segment contributed 9% of net sales value during the period.
The company’s board has also approved an interim dividend of Rs 6 per share.
Ahead of the earnings announcement on Tuesday, shares of United Spirits closed at Rs 1,318.55 apiece on the BSE, down 0.39% versus the previous day’s close.