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The alcoholic beverage industry is on a high, with nearly double-digit growth in festive season sales, and now expects an upswing of around 20 per cent in the October-December period, driven by the premium spirits category. The industry witnessed a spike in sales across categories, whether it's IMFL or Scotch in the whisky segment, or rum or white spirits such as vodka, white rum, gin and tequila in the almost one-and-a-half-month festive season, which is now in its conclusion. This festive season, the industry has witnessed higher growth in the premium category, as well as in smaller tier II & III markets, alongside the developed markets. "We have witnessed a highly encouraging festive season, with strong uptake across our premium and luxury portfolio. The festive months continue to be a key consumption period in India, and this year's performance has reaffirmed the growing consumer preference for premium and thoughtfully crafted spirits," Radico Khaitan Chief Operating Officer Amar Sinha told PTI. Its brands, such as Rampur Indian Single Malt to Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin, have recorded robust growth across several high-potential markets. "With the momentum built this festive season, we remain confident of maintaining a healthy positive trajectory into the third quarter as well," he said, adding, "Retail and on-trade channels are optimistic, demand indicators remain strong." AlchoBev makers expect this momentum to continue through the Christmas and New Year celebrations, driven by factors such as rising consumer spending, higher disposable incomes, and a young, aspirational consumer base. Helped by this, "Alcobev industry is expecting 10-20 per cent upsurge in sales this festive season (October-December)," said Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) Director General Anant S Iyer. Good monsoon and a positive economic outlook will push sales, he said. "We are already getting positive feedback of liquor sales going up," said Iyer, adding, "Interestingly, premium and luxury segments are the ones where we are seeing good growth, especially in metros/ Tier I & II cities." Similarly, the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI), which represents the imported premium portfolio of spirits and wine brands in India, said the festive season has been very buoyant for the spirits sector, fueled by consumer buying amidst the GST benefits passed on by the government. "... Reports on the ground indicate the upswing is in double-digit numbers, especially in the premium spirits category. The NCR region has seen record sales, with Noida & Gurgaon leading the way," said ISWAI CEO Sanjit Padhi. ISWAI members include Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Brown Forman, Campari Group, Diageo-United Spirits, Moet Hennessy, Pernod Ricard, and William Grant & Sons -- global leaders in the spirits and wine industries. "The festive spirit is also visible in regional consumption patterns. As per media reports, the Telangana excise department reported substantial revenue of Rs 1,000 crore over just two days of Dussehra festivities, mainly from IMFL sales. Similar trends were seen in Kolkata, where the Durga Puja festivities led to a 15-16 per cent rise in sales during the 10-day celebration period," it said. While CIABC represent the home-grown spirits maker, mostly the IMFL players. ISWAI said that, with a domestic volume of 408 million cases of branded spirits in 2024, it contributed to excise of Rs 3.5 lakh crore in FY24. Between 2019 and 2024, the overall industry grew at a CAGR of 3.4 per cent, while the premium segment registered double-digit growth, with its market share rising from 42 to above 50 per cent.CIABC data mentioned that, on a pan-India level, sales volume of IMFL Whisky slowed to 1.4 per cent in FY'25, to 40.17 crore cases (12 bottles of 750ml). PTI

Berkshire Hathaway is lagging the S&P 500 by its widest margin this year, as Warren Buffett’s decision to sharply reduce the conglomerate’s Apple stake continues to weigh on performance, even as Berkshire’s own shares recover from their summer lows.Berkshire Hathaway's Class B shares have rebounded 7.2% since their August 4 closing low of $459.11, recouping part of a nearly 15% drop that followed Buffett's surprise announcement in early May that he would step down as CEO at the end of the year. The stock is now up 8.6% year to date, while Class A shares have gained 8.5%.The broader market, however, has pulled further ahead. The S&P 500 has risen 15.5% this year, climbing 7.3% since August 4 to close at a fresh record high on Friday, helped by a lower-than-expected September inflation reading. That performance gap of 6.9 percentage points is now the widest Berkshire has trailed the benchmark index all year.Apple sale costs Berkshire billionsApple, which accounts for 6.35% of the S&P 500, also ended Friday at a record high of $262.82 a share, more than 50% above the price when Berkshire began trimming its holdings in late 2023.Since then, Berkshire has reduced its Apple stake by 69%, to 280 million shares as of June 30, down from nearly 916 million as of September 30, 2023. The iPhone maker remains Berkshire's largest equity position, though further changes could be disclosed when the company reports its third-quarter holdings in mid-November.Had Berkshire held its full Apple stake, it would be worth roughly $241 billion today, compared with about $74 billion now—a $167 billion difference. Barron's estimates that Berkshire's average selling price was around $185 per share, yielding a pretax gain of about $96 billion but leaving roughly $50 billion "on the table." Those realized gains were further reduced by approximately $20 billion in taxes.Buffett's explanationBuffett has said little about the Apple sell-down beyond comments made at Berkshire's annual meeting last year. At the time, he told shareholders that he expected Apple would "remain Berkshire's largest equity position well into the future," calling it an even better business than long-time holdings American Express and Coca-Cola.He added that he anticipated higher U.S. capital gains tax rates in the future and believed investors would prefer paying a lower rate on what he described as a small Apple sale rather than a higher one later. At that point, Berkshire had trimmed its stake by only about 14%.Jazwares expands partnershipsSeparately, Berkshire's toy and collectibles subsidiary Jazwares announced two new partnerships this week. The maker of the hit “Squishmallows” line said it will be the official worldwide plush licensee for next year's FIFA World Cup, with products including the highly anticipated official mascot set to launch in June.Jazwares is also teaming up with Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products to launch a wide array of plush items across the studio's entertainment catalog. The first releases include a “spooky” collection featuring characters from Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Gremlins, and IT: Welcome to Derry, with more collaborations expected to follow.Also read | Ola Electric vs Ather Energy shares: Which EV bet looks stronger for your portfolio right now?(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Top recruiters at the country’s leading business schools are increasingly taking the internship route for hiring instead of final placements, as it gives them more time to assess talent. Internship gives companies and candidates around two months to determine the right fit compared to 30-45 minutes in the final placements, recruiters and officials at Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) said. Deutsche Bank India hires around 200 interns annually. This year, it is visiting B-schools such as IIM Bangalore, IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore and XLRI to hire interns for roles in investment banking, HR and corporate banking. “By partnering with leading B-schools and engineering institutes, and offering best-in-class stipends, we ensure students gain meaningful exposure while we identify the leaders of tomorrow,” said Madhavi Lall, head of HR, Deutsche Bank India. Deutsche Bank relies more on the internship route as it enables both the candidate and the organisation to assess fit before making a long-term commitment, she said. “This approach ensures better alignment and retention.” 124817556 Each year, L&T onboards over 60 MBA interns from premier B-schools across India. “We increasingly view internships as a strategic gateway to full-time hiring,” said C Jayakumar, CHRO, L&T. The infrastructure major has a two-month summer internship programme for MBA students. This year it is also launching the L&T global internship programme. The campuses that L&T visits include the IIMs, XLRI, FMS, IIFT, TISS, MDI and SIBM, among others, he said. “Particularly for our MBA hiring programme, the internship route has emerged as a key strategic talent pipeline,” said Jayakumar. The number of students receiving job offers after completing internships is increasing year on year for IIM Ahmedabad over the last three years or so. “Summer internship serves as a great vehicle for firms to see how the candidate fits their requirements, especially when companies increasingly look at candidates holistically,” said Viswanath Pingali, chairperson-placements at IIM Ahmedabad. According to Debashis Chatterjee, director, IIM Kozhikode, industry is looking for transitional skills such as communication, problem-solving etc, which students acquire during internships while working with real organisations. Companies have begun to understand that the cost of imparting transitional skills at the end of the programme is probably much more than if they were to acquire those during the summer, said Chatterjee. Summer placements have always found favour with companies, but now they are liked even more. As a result, the stipends are also moving north. IIM Lucknow recorded an average stipend of `1.67 lakh per month for the 2025-27 batch. IIM Bangalore, which concluded 2026 summer placements, witnessed a record 46% consulting offers, while the healthcare offers were up by 70%.

US President Donald Trump met Saturday with the emir and prime minister of Qatar -- a key ally in preserving the fragile Gaza peace deal -- during a refueling stop on his way to Asia, officials said.The Qatari leaders boarded Air Force One when it landed at Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the regional headquarters for the US military and thousands of American troops.Trump said the duo had played a crucial role in the Middle East peace process, adding that Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had been his "friend to the world."