Veteran investor Dolly Khanna has reduced her stake in Som Distilleries and Breweries amid a turbulent quarter characterised by falling profits, licence renewal delays, and regional headwinds, raising questions over the company’s turnaround prospects.
Dolly Khanna’s stake in Som Distilleries and Breweries has slipped out of the public disclosure list for the June quarter, suggesting that the veteran investor either exited or reduced her holding below the 1% reporting threshold. LiveMint reported that Khanna has also pared back positions in other names this quarter, including Rain Industries, Sharda Cropchem and Prakash Industries, pointing to a broader portfolio reset rather than an isolated move.
The timing is notable because Som Distilleries has just posted a bruising set of quarterly numbers. In results released on 11 August, the company said standalone profit after tax fell to ₹1.52 crore from ₹37.83 crore a year earlier, while consolidated profit slipped to ₹1.56 crore from ₹42.06 crore. Revenue also weakened sharply, with standalone sales tumbling to ₹38.93 crore from ₹417.64 crore in the same period last year, underscoring how badly operations have been hit.
One of the biggest overhangs remains the Bhopal plant licence issue. On the company’s earnings call for the year ended March, management had said the problem would be resolved within days or weeks. Yet the latest filing still shows the renewal process was underway in August, and the auditor’s review has again highlighted the matter. That gap between earlier guidance and the current position may help explain why investors have grown more cautious.
The company has tried to reassure the market that the disruption is temporary and that production should recover once the plant restarts. According to Arthneeti, Som Distilleries is still guiding for revenue of ₹1,400 crore to ₹1,500 crore and expects support from the Bhopal facility resuming operations and a new brewery in Uttar Pradesh. It is also facing pressure in Karnataka after a change in excise policy, adding another layer of uncertainty.
Even so, the latest quarter points to a business still struggling with execution risk, falling output and delayed fixes to earlier problems. Business Standard reported that the company’s March quarter revenue dropped 46.66% year on year and operating profit turned deeply negative, suggesting the weakness predates the June-quarter slump. For investors, the central question is whether Som Distilleries can turn its licence problem, plant disruptions and regional headwinds into a real recovery rather than another round of promises.
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