United Breweries MD Rishi Pardal Resigns; SC Stays CCI Penalty On Cartelization

HEINEKEN obtained control of United Breweries Limited (UBL) in India in July 2021, following an acquisition of a majority share in UBL.

"With Rishi's leadership, UBL has successfully navigated through COVID challenges and has made significant steps in integrating UBL into the HEINEKEN Group while keeping a focus on the business. We are thankful for the leadership, and experience Rishi has brought to the company," said Jacco van der Linden, President – Asia Pacific, HEINEKEN.

"The past years have been important in the company's evolution. UBL is well-positioned to shape the future of beer and beyond," said Rishi Pardal, outgoing CEO.

Recently, Competition Commission of India (CCI) order of penalty of ₹751.83 crore on Kingfisher beer manufacturer, United Breweries. The competition watchdog found United Breweries Ltd (UBL),Carlsberg India Pvt. and and SABMiller India Ltd for alleged cartelization. CCI found that the companies have engaged in price co-ordination, supply restrictions and market sharing in different states in breach of law, it said. CCI has imposed penalty of Rs120 crore on Carlsberg India. CCI also found that a brewers’ industry body was actively involved in facilitating such cartelization and held it to be in contravention of provisions of the competition law.

United Breweries Ltd (UBL) reported a consolidated net loss of ₹1.81 crore in the third quarter ended December 2022 on account of impairment of assets in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, besides higher expenses.

It had posted a consolidated net profit of ₹91.02 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated total income during the quarter under review stood at ₹3,713.54 crore as against ₹3,517.98 crore in the year-ago period.

The United Breweries shares on Friday closed 1.75 percent higher at ₹1,488.65 apiece on BSE