United Spirits Q3 profit beats estimates despite margin miss; board declares dividend

United Spirits Ltd reported a resilient set of earnings for the third quarter ended FY26, with net profit and revenue beating Street estimates, even as operating margins came in below expectations.

The Diageo-controlled spirits maker posted a net profit of ₹529 crore for the quarter, higher than the CNBC-TV18 poll estimate of ₹497 crore. Revenue stood at ₹3,683 crore, marginally ahead of the estimate of ₹3,650 crore.

However, EBITDA at ₹618 crore missed estimates of ₹640 crore, while margins declined

to 16.8% compared with the poll expectation of 17.5%.

On a year-on-year basis, net profit rose 11.8% from ₹473 crore, while revenue increased 7.3% from ₹3,432 crore. EBITDA grew 5.1% year-on-year, though margins softened from 17.1% in the same quarter last year.

Net sales value (NSV) for Q3FY26 came in at ₹3,694 crore, marking a growth of 7.6%. Growth was driven primarily by the Prestige & Above (P&A) segment, which recorded NSV growth of 8.2% during the quarter.

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 Maharashtra impact.

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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 accounted for 9.0% of net sales during the period.

Commenting on the performance, CEO and Managing Director Praveen Someshwar said, “We have delivered a resilient quarter overall while navigating policy headwinds in one of our most salient markets. Strong momentum in Rest of India and at the top-end of our portfolio bodes well.”

The company’s board approved an interim dividend of ₹6 per share.

Ahead of the earnings announcement, shares of United Spirits closed at ₹1,316.30 on the NSE, down 0.64%.