Diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd reported a 1 per cent rise in standalone net profit at Rs 5,638 crore, beating estimates, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, mainly driven by its agriculture, hotels and cigarettes businesses, while its FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) business posted a low single-digit growth amid muted demand enviornment. The firm reported net profit of Rs 5,572 crore in the year-ago period.
On a consolidated basis, profit fell 7 per cent to Rs 5,013.2 crore, while revenue from operations rose to Rs Rs 20,350 crore from Rs 18,880.4 crore in the same quarter last year.
Standalone revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 18,290 crore in Q3FY25, up 8 per cent from Rs 16,864 crore in Q3FY24. The company declared interim dividend of Rs 6.5 per equity share, it said in a filing on February 6. According to a Moneycontrol poll of nine brokerages, ITC was expected to report revenue of Rs 18,366 crore, rising 11.4 percent year-on-year. Its net profit was likely to fall 8.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 5,124 crore in Q3FY25.
The FMCG-to-cigarettes conglomerate cited the quarter witnessing a "challenging operating environment" amid sharp input cost escalation in key materials such as edible oil, wheat, potato, leaf tobacco, wood etc. It reported 3 per cent increase in earnings before interest rates, tax, depreciation and ammoratisation (EBITDA) at Rs 6,197 crore in the December quarter.
On the BSE, ITC Ltd’s shares closed at Rs 441.40, down 1.53% from the previous day's closing price. Segment results
Cigarette business' net segment revenue rose 7.8 per cent to Rs 8136.3 crore in the quarter, while profit before interest rates and taxes stood Rs 4924 crore, up 4.1 percent YOY. ITC said that the premiun products continued to perform well, while the increase in leaf tobacco costs was offsetted by improved mix and calibrated pricing action.
Non-cigarette FMCG business, reported a 4 per cent rise at Rs 5418.2 crore, mainly driven by sales of Atta, Spices, Snacks, Frozen Snacks, Dairy etc among others, coupled with strong performance in the premium portfolio. Profit for the segment came at Rs 317 crore down 26 per cent YOY from Rs 431.8 crore reported last year. The company flagged inflationary pressures witnessed in prices of edible oil, wheat, maida, potato, cocoa, packaging inputs etc. The company said the notebooks segment was impacted by high base effect and opportunistic play by local brands led by sharp drop in paper prices.
Its hotels business, which got demerged last month, saw a double digit growth, rising 14.6 per cent at Rs 922 crore, while profit before interest and taxes increased 43.4 per cent to Rs 302 crore, driven by retail, wedding and F&B segments. EBITDA margin expanded 450 bps YoY driven by higher RevPAR, operating leverage and strategic cost management, the company said.
In the agri-business, revenue was up 9.7 per cent YoY led by leaf tobacco & value added agri products. The value-added agri portfolio recorded strong growth driven by coffee exports, the company said.
ITC said its paperboards, paper and packaging business faced challenges due to low-priced Chinese and Indonesian supplies, soft domestic demand conditions, unprecedented surge in domestic wood costs and subdued realisations. The segment posted a low single digit revenue growth of 3 per cent driven by strong growth in exports.
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