ITC Q3 net profit rises 15% to Rs 4,056 cr, interim dividend of Rs 5.25 declared

FMCG-cigarette-to-hotel major ITC on Thursday reported a year-on-year consolidated net profit of Rs 4,056 crore, up 15 per cent in the quarter ended 31 December, 2021. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 3,526 crore in the year-ago period. 

The revenue from operations for the period comes at Rs 18,365 crore, up 30 per cent for the December quarter. The company had posted a revenue of Rs 14,124 crore in the corresponding period.

The board also declared an interim dividend of Rs 5.25 per equity share for the current financial year. Such dividend will be paid on Friday, 4th March, 2022 to those members entitled thereto, the FMCG major said in its regulatory filing.

Its consolidated total income stood at Rs 18,787.72 crore as against Rs 14,670.17 crore in the year-ago quarter, it added.

Total expenses were higher at Rs 13,207.28 crore as compared with Rs 9,765.56 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, the company said.

During the third quarter, the cigarettes segment clocked a revenue of Rs 6,958.79 crore as compared to Rs 6,091.17 crore in the same period last fiscal.

ITC said its other FMCG division had a revenue of Rs 4,099.47 crore as against Rs 3,752.61 crore in the year-ago quarter.

There has been robust growth in discretionary, out-of-home categories such as snacks, frozen snacks and beverages, while staples and convenience foods showed resilient performance, it added.

The hygiene portfolio continues to witness demand volatility in line with COVID-19 caseload intensity and remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, the company said.The hotels segment registered a revenue of Rs 495.53 crore, up from Rs 248.87 crore in the third quarter last fiscal. Occupancy has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and there is also a strong sequential improvement in the average room rate but is still below pre-pandemic levels.

Although domestic leisure travel and the festive, wedding season boosted demand along with progressive improvement in business travel, the Omicron wave has impacted recovery momentum in January 2022, ITC said.

Its agri business revenue jumped to Rs 5,157.36 crore in the third quarter, up from Rs 2,694.27 crore in the same period a year ago. It was driven by wheat, rice, spices, leaf tobacco exports by leveraging on strong customer relationships, robust sourcing network and agile execution, it added.

Revenue from paperboards, paper and packaging vertical also improved to Rs 2,046.48 crore from Rs 1,477.53 crore in the third quarter previous year, the company said.

Shares of meme-favorite ITC on Friday closed 1.14 per cent higher at Rs 234.30 apiece on BSE ahead of the quarterly results. The country’s largest tobacco company has shone after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman didn't make any changes in the taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products in the Budget session of 2022-2023, which is a big positive for the company.