United Spirits Limited

Mallya's USL is World No. 2

Spirits brand

fnbworld bureau/Bangalore

The United Spirits Limited (USL) - the flagship company of the Bangalore-headquartered UB group is now the world’s second largest in terms of volume of beverage sales.

The UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya announced in Bangalore that USL has grabbed the second spot from the Paris headquartered Pernod Ricard Company. The No. 1 spirits company in the world is the London- based Diageo Company.

“While the world’s four biggest spirits brands — Smirnoff, Bacardi, Johnnie Walker and Absolut, collectively lost 4 million cases, USL’s market share grew to 59 per cent with over 100 million cases in the operative segments. In the last 25 years, USL has sold a total of 740 million cases of spirits,” the liquor baron said.

According to figures released by the company the UB Group sells 6,735 bottles of spirits every minute. Their beer sales stand at 2,300 bottles of beer every minute.

The group also announced that its beer division crossed sales of 100 million cases in the financial year 2010. In total, the UB group’s alcohol business recorded a retail sales value of Rs 38,200 crore for the financial year 2010.

“It wasn’t long ago that we were merely a 3 million case company. We have created history in the world of beverage alcohol by selling 740 million cases in about a quarter of a century. The USL has a 59 per cent market share in India in the segments it operates in,” said  Mr. Vijay Mallya.

United Spirits Limited. The Group's principal activity is to manufacture, purchase and sell Indian made foreign liquor including brand franchise. It's products include whisky, brandy and rum. The Group operates under the brand name of dalmore, jura, whyte & mackay, black dog, antiquity, signature, royal challenge, McDowell's no.1, celebration rum, bouvet ladubay, pinky, romanov, white mischief and four seasons. Its plants are located at Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Bihar, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Pondicherry, Punjab, Hariyana, Himachal Pradesh and Orissa.

Exchanges:       BOM
2009 Sales:     54,122,000,000
Major Industry:     Food & Beverages
Sub Industry:     Brewers
Country:            INDIA
Employees:     7000