Shares of touched a fresh 52-week low of ₹1,382 in early trade on Wednesday, sliding over 3.5 per cent to ₹1,402 as of 11.39 am, after the country’s largest beer maker reported a weak set of numbers for the January-March quarter on Tuesday.
The stock opened at ₹1,428.30 and has shed nearly 34.4 per cent over the past year, significantly underperforming the Nifty FMCG index, which is down about 9.9 per cent in the same period. Year-to-date, UBL has lost close to 12.8 per cent against the index’s 4.6 per cent decline. Total market capitalisation stood at approximately ₹37,070 crore with around 5.46 lakh shares traded by mid-morning.
Brokerages were largely unimpressed. JM Financial maintained an ADD rating with a target price of ₹1,610, flagging the quarter as disappointing. Analyst Mehul Desai noted that while volume growth of 4.1 per cent was marginally ahead of estimates, adverse price and sourcing mix drove net revenue down 3.2 per cent year-on-year to ₹2,248 crore, missing both house and street estimates by a wide margin. EBITDA fell roughly 25 per cent year-on-year to ₹147 crore, coming in 43 per cent below JM Financial’s estimate, with EBITDA margins contracting 180 basis points to 6.2 per cent. SBI Securities flagged a sharper sequential EBITDA drop of 38.3 per cent.
The headline profit figure of ₹102 crore, up 4 per cent year-on-year, was flattered by a ₹74 crore exceptional gain from sale of freehold land. Stripping that out, profit before tax before exceptional items fell 68 per cent year-on-year.
On the results front, gross margins surprised positively, expanding 332 basis points to 45.4 per cent, but this was entirely offset by a 14 per cent rise in other expenses, driven by higher advertising and promotional spends, and a 395 per cent surge in finance costs.
Management flagged an estimated cost headwind of ₹400–500 crore over the next two to three quarters, stemming from West Asia-linked supply disruptions, input cost inflation, and rupee pressure. Premium volume growth of 16 per cent and beer category recovery of 10 per cent in Q4 were the few bright spots cited.