ITC Q3 profit falls 11% YoY to Rs 3,587 crore, declares interim dividend

Cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate ITC on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 3,587 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2020 (Q3FY21), down 11 per cent from Rs 4050.40 crore clocked in the corresponding quarter a year earlier (Q3FY20).

Consolidated revenue from operations rose to Rs 14,124 crore during the quarter from Rs 13,307 crore in the year-ago period, an increase of about 6 per cent.

Segment wise, revenue from cigarettes business came in at Rs 6,091.17 crore from Rs 5,944.86 crore a year ago, while the non-cigarette FMCG businesses recorded a revenue of Rs 3,752.61 crore. Meanwhile the company clocked Rs 9,843.78 crore in revenue from the total FMCG business.

The earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) or pre-tax profit for the cigarette business declined 8.68 per cent at Rs 3658.65 crore during the quarter from Rs 4,006.39 crore in the year-ago period. ITC recored a massive jump (about 125 per cent) in pre-tax profit for non-cigarette FMCG business at Rs 243.17 crore.

"The cigarette volumes and revenue witnessed strong sequential recovery led mainly by metros and large town markets on the back of progressive easing of restrictions and enhanced mobility," the company said in a stock exchange filing 

Revenue from hotels business fell by 57 per cent to Rs 248.8 crore from Rs 574.26 crore in the year ago period.  The hotels segment witenssed a loss of Rs 72 crore. However it is lower compared to the loss of Rs 193 crore recorded in the preceding September quarter.

"The operating environment remained challenging even as economic activity picked up pace progressively during the quarter with the easing of restrictions and increased mobility," the company said.

ITC's board declared an interim dividend of Rs 5 per share for the current financial year and it will be paid on March 10, 2021 to those members entitled.

The revenue from agri business rose by 19.3 per cent at Rs 2,694 crore compared with Rs crore 2,258 crore during the same period a year earlier. The company recorded Rs 1,477.5 crore in revenues from paperboards, paper and packaging business, marginally down from Rs 1,555.36 crore in the same quarter a year earlier.

ITC's total expenses stood at Rs 9,765.56 crore in the December quarter, an increase of about 11.2 per cent compared to Rs 8,779.1 crore in the same period a year ago.

On Thursday, the company's scrip on BSE closed 0.53 per cent lower at Rs 226.45.