ITC Net Profit Rises 10% in First Quarter Led by Cigarette Sales
No surprises here. The cigarette segment drives ITC earnings in the April to June quarter.
Fast moving consumer goods major ITC Ltd.’s net profit rose 10 percent to Rs 2,385 crore, compared to the same quarter last year, the company reported in a filing on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The profit was led primarily by cigarettes segment sales.
Net sales grew 8.3 percent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 13,253 crore.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation stood rose 8 percent from the same quarter last year to Rs 3,430 crore. EBITDA margin remained unchanged at 26 percent on a year-on-year basis.
Cigarette segment sales increased to Rs 8,231 crore this quarter from Rs 7,733 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Earnings before interest and tax, for the segment, increased to Rs 3,005 crore from Rs 2,781 crore on a year-on-year basis.
ITC’s cigarette factories were shut from April 1-15, and May 4-7 this year because of uncertainty regarding health warnings on cigarette packaging.
Sales of the FMCG segment, excluding cigarettes, grew 9.5 percent to Rs 2,385 crore in the first quarter from Rs 2,177 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The EBIT margin for the segment stood at a negative 0.2 percent.
The agri business saw a 20.2 percent rise in sales. The segment revenue increased to Rs 2,794 crore from Rs 2,325 crore on a year-on-year basis. EBIT margin fell to 8.5 percent from 10.1 percent over the year, according to BloombergQuint’s calculations.
ITC’s hotel and paper segments contracted by 1.6 percent and 0.2 percent respectively compared to the same quarter last year. While the hotel sector’s EBIT margin improved to 0.4 percent this quarter, the paper segment fell marginally to 18.7 percent.