ITC Q3 net may rise 8.6% at Rs 2590.1 cr: ICICIdirect

ICICIdirect has come out with its third quarter (October-December) earnings estimates for the FMCG sector. The brokerage house expects ITC to report a 6.8 percent growth quarter-on-quarter (growth of 8.6 percent year-on-year) in net profit at Rs 2590.1 crore.

Sales are expected to increase by 10.6 percent Q-o-Q (up 14.5 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 9876.1 crore, according to ICICIdirect.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are likely to rise by 6.8 percent Q-o-Q (up 13.4 percent Y-o-Y) to Rs 3724.3 crore.

We expect cigarettes sales to grow at 16.2 percent Y-o-Y mainly led by 21 percent Y-o-Y increase in prices with 4 percent decline in volumes. Sales growth for FMCG, agri, papers & hotels business is expected to be 13.9 percent, 26.7 percent, 11.8 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively. We expect the company to maintain its operating margins at 37.3 percent as it has passed on the entire excise duty announced in July. PAT may witness 8.6 percent growth in Q3FY15.

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