Diageo-owned liquor firm United Spirits Ltd (USL) on Thursday, July 20, reported an 82 percent year-on-year (YoY) jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 476.7 crore for the first quarter that ended June 30, 2023.

In the corresponding quarter last year, the company posted a net profit of Rs 261.10 crore, United Spirits said in a regulatory filing.

During the quarter, total revenue stood at Rs 2,171.9 crore during the period under review, up 0.1 percent against Rs 2,169 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal. CNBC-TV18 Polls had predicted revenue of Rs 2,119 crore for the quarter under review.

At the operating level, EBITDA jumped 40.6 percent to Rs 385.1 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal over Rs 274 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

The EBITDA margin stood at 17.7 percent in the reporting quarter compared to 12.6 percent in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.

The company's consolidated net sales stood at Rs 2,668 crore, up by 28.6 percent. This was led by strong growth in its standalone business and a significant increase in revenue, driven by the Indian Premier League's new five-year media rights cycle (2023-27).

For the quarter, net sales stood at Rs 2,172 crore, up 17.4 percent, driven by continued premiumisation tailwinds, and improved innovation or renovation offerings.

Excluding the one-off benefit of Rs 13 crore, driven by a write-back, the underlying gross margin stood at 43 percent, an expansion of 80 bps versus the prior year, continuing the sequential quarter-on-quarter improvement.

The Prestige & Above segment rose to 86.4 percent of net sales during the first quarter. This segment’s net sales increased 21.2 percent during the first quarter.

The Popular segment was slightly down, accounting for 10.4 percent of net sales during the first quarter. The Popular segment net sales increased by 0.9 percent during the first quarter.

The results came after the close of the market hours. Shares of United Spirits Ltd ended at Rs 976, up by Rs 5.30, or 0.55 percent on the BSE.