INDIA – United Breweries, India’s largest producer of beer, has appointed former Walmart executive, Anand Vijay Jha as its senior vice president and Chief of Corporate Affairs.
A statement from the company said that Jha will be responsible for heading public policy, government relations, corporate communications, philanthropy, CSR and UB’s ESG (environmental, social and governance) initiatives.
Jha is joining United Breweries from Walmart India where she served as senior vice president and chief of corporate affairs.
He has also previously served in government as a civil servant and has about two decades of experience of working with ministries, departments and regulatory bodies including the Competition Commission of India.
While in government, Jha played a key role in the setting up and operationalisation of RLDA, a statutory body responsible for raising revenue through non-tariff measures such as commercial leasing of government land.
He holds an MBA in strategy from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) (University of Delhi), a L.L.B. from Campus Law Centre (University of Delhi) and L.L.M. in international trade and commercial laws from Durham University (United Kingdom).
Jha is a member of Oxford University’s corporate affairs academy and is a regular visiting faculty in law and business schools and public administration institutions in the country.
Earlier, United Breweries reported an 18.87 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 127.19 crore (US$17.5 million) for the third quarter ended December 2020.
However, its revenue from operations slipped 5.78 per cent to Rs 3,065.89 crore (about US$422.4 million) during the quarter under review as against Rs 3,254.07 crore (about US$448.5 million) in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Non-alcoholic beverages revenue however jumped 24.48 per cent to Rs 5.95 crore (US$820,075), from Rs 4.78 crore (US$658,816).
Despite the dwindling beer fortunes, UBL said the industry outlook continues to remain positive yet volatile depending on, among others, the future trajectory of the pandemic.
“UBL is well-positioned to take advantage of the market opportunities being the market leader with a strong brand portfolio and robust balance sheet,” it added.
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