ITC Q1 profit up 15.6% to Rs 2,186.39 crore

Diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd today posted a 15.6 per cent rise in its net profit to Rs 2,186.39 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2014, on the back of robust sales in FMCG and agri-business categories.
The company had registered a net profit of Rs 1,891.33 crore in the April-June quarter of 2013-14.
Net sales of the company during the quarter under review went up by 24.88 per cent to Rs 9,164.42 crore, compared to Rs 7,338.52 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, ITC Ltd said in a statement.
Revenue of the Kolkata-headquartered firm from its cigarettes business climbed 18.76 per cent to Rs 4,201.06 crore during the June quarter as against Rs 3,537.39 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Earnings from FMCG segment other than cigarettes also increased 10.88 per cent to Rs 1,934.61 crore during the period as compared to Rs 1,744.66 crore in the year-ago quarter.
This segment includes branded packaged foods, apparel, education and stationery items, personal care products, safety matches and agarbattis.

Revenue from its agri-business - which includes commodities such as soya, spices, coffee and leaf tobacco - increased 50.57 per cent to Rs 3,296.06 crore during the first quarter of this fiscal. It stood at Rs 2,188.98 crore during the same period last fiscal.
However, revenue from the hotel segment fell marginally by 0.46 per cent to 248.69 crore during the quarter as against Rs 249.86 crore a year earlier.

"The hospitality sector continued to be adversely impacted by the weak economic conditions and high levels of room inventory in key Indian cities leading to a relatively weak pricing scenario. Consequently, growth in Segment Revenues remained muted during the quarter," the company said.
ITC's revenue from paperboards, paper and packaging segment during the period under review grew 10.77 per cent to Rs 1,288.48 crore, from Rs 1,163.14 crore a year ago.