United Breweries holds Vijay Mallya’s Rs 12 crore dividend

BENGALURU: There's no beery dividend for the troubled tycoon Vijay Mallya. United Breweries (UBL), the largest beer producer in the country, said it will withhold dividend payout to its chairman Mallya due to an order received from the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), asking it not to release the amount.

United Breweries, known for Kingfisher Beer, proposed a dividend of Rs 1.15 per equity share of Rs 1, amounting to Rs 36.6 crore (inclusive of dividend distribution tax) for the fiscal year ended March 31. Mallya related entities would have been eligible for a dividend of Rs 11.9 crore, as per calculations.

Mallya, who is currently in the UK and under pressure from a consortium of banks to repay loans related to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, directly and indirectly holds about 32.45% stake in United Breweries. Dutch brewer Heineken is the largest shareholder in the company.

"As required by the Companies Act, we have made all disclosures and put everything in the public domain but I cannot say anything specific. We have received a note from the DRT and will comply," Shekhar Ramamurthy, CEO, United Breweries told TOI. Separately, a UB Group official confirmed that dividend disbursement to Mallya has been deferred.

Mallya assured board members and Heineken in a meeting on Friday that the money-laundering allegations against him were baseless and he has made a new settlement offer to the main lender State Bank of India and is hopeful of making a quick progress on the matter.

UBL's Jan-March net up 13.5%: Separately, United Breweries said its fourth quarter profit rose 13.5% to Rs 295 crore, helped by higher volume growth in large markets such as Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, favourable market mix and stable input prices. Net sales rose 9.3% to Rs 4,564 crore.