ITC Q3 net may fall three pct, cigarette volume down two-three pct

With demonetisation taking its toll on the economy, the FMCG company ITC is likely to get affected with slippages in its cigarette volume growth in December quarter.

As per a poll conducted by CNBC-TV18, ITC is likely to report net profit at Rs. 2564.2 crore in October-December down 3.3 percent from Rs. 2652.8 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

During the quarter, the company's total income is likely to witness a marginal fall of 0.5 percent at Rs. 9130.4 crore compared to Rs. 9176.7 crore in the year-ago period.

In Q3, EBITDA is declined by 2.3 percent at Rs. 3521 crore versus Rs. 3605.2 crore while margins may stand at 38.6 percent versus 39.3 percent (year-on-year).

The analysts believe the demonetisation demon may impact cigarette volumes due to inelastic demand.

The company raised prices on 30 percent of cigarette portfolio by 14-15 percent in the second half of December.

However, the expectations are weak from FMCG and hotels business due to demonetisation and discretionary nature of products, which will be the key triggers for the Budget and GST.