BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s Sula Vineyards reported a rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday as consumers snapped up more of its cheaper wine, outpacing feeble demand for its premium offerings due to national elections and heatwaves during the period.
The country’s biggest wine maker’s consolidated net profit rose 7% year-on-year to 146.3 million rupees ($1.7 million) for the quarter ended June 30.
Its profit had fallen in the previous quarter.
About 70% of the company’s sales come from its key states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Sula is also expanding its operations in other states including Telangana and Rajasthan, where sales have picked up pace.
Sula’s revenue grew more than 10% during the quarter to 1.28 billion rupees, its second straight quarter of growth, aided by a 24.4% jump in its cheaper wine segment.
Its elite and premium segment, however, logged a 7.4% decline in sales volume. The business accounts for 71% of its revenue.
National elections led to restrictions on the alcohol beverage industry and, this, coupled with heatwaves, hurt the company’s sales during the quarter, CEO Rajeev Samant said in a statement.
Sula, the only listed winemaker in India, did not provide the sales volume of its cheaper segment or the revenue numbers for its more expensive segment.
Wine sales make up about 88% of its net revenue.
The smaller wine tourism segment logged an 2.3% fall in revenue as fewer people visited its vineyards during the quarter due to heatwaves.
In July, the company said it plans to broaden its wine tourism business and will launch a resort at York Winery, situated at its Nashik property in Maharashtra in 2026.
($1 = 83.9230 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Varun Hebbalalu and Ashna Teresa Britto in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
