United Spirits Ltd.Premium Recovery Offsets Maharashtra Challenges

United Spirits Ltd. delivered a strong festive quarter despite significant headwinds from Maharashtra Made Liquor (MML) competition.

Excluding Maharashtra, the company achieved robust 6% volume and 14% NSV growth, demonstrating healthy performance across rest of India. Year-to-date P&A growth stands at 9.8%, tracking close to double-digit guidance. The premium portfolio showed encouraging recovery with Upper Prestige segment registering nearly double-digit growth, led by Signature's strong performance. Price/mix stood at 10%, above the historical 6-8% range, supported by premiumization trends.

Don Julio became the fastest ₹100 crore innovation brand within nine months, with revenues doubling both quarterly and year-to-date. Gross margins sustained at approximately 47% for two consecutive quarters. Management reaffirmed confidence in achieving 6-8% price/mix guidance going forward. The India-UK FTA is expected to deliver ₹110-120 crore annual benefits from Q2 FY27. However, management expressed cautious optimism citing job market uncertainty and geopolitical concerns, while actively addressing Maharashtra's structural pricing challenges through pocket packs and ground-level activation.