ITC Q2 profit at Rs 2,425.16 crore

Diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd today posted a standalone net profit to Rs 2,425.16 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014.
The company had registered a net profit of Rs 2,230.53 crore in the July-September period of 2013-14.
Standalone total income of the company during the second quarter stood at Rs 9,023.74 crore. It was Rs 7,862.53 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal, ITC Ltd said in a statement.
"ITC posted another quarter of impressive growth in revenue and profits notwithstanding a challenging business environment exacerbated by a steep hike in Excise Duties on Cigarettes for the third year in succession as announced in the Union Budget 2014," the company said.

ITC said that the result were not comparable due to demerger of non engineering business of Wimco and its merger into the company.
"The scheme, with effect from April 01, 2013, provided for the demerger of the Non Engineering Business of Wimco into the Company. The results for the quarters ended June 30, 2014 and September 30, 2014 and for the six months ended September 30, 2014 reflect the effect of the Scheme, and consequently, the figures for the previous periods are not strictly comparable," ITC said.

Revenue of the Kolkata-headquartered firm from its cigarettes business was at Rs 4,250.86 crore during the second quarter of 2014-15 as against Rs 3,723.81 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Earnings from FMCG segment other than cigarettes was at Rs 2,196.01 crore during the quarter under review. It had stood at Rs 1,962.22 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 during the second quarter -which includes commodities such as soya, spices, coffee and leaf tobacco - stood at Rs 2,058.67. It was at Rs 1,772.46 crore during the July-September period of last fiscal.
Revenue from the hotel segment stood at Rs 261.59 crore during the Q2 of 2014-15. It was at Rs 246.97 crore during the previous quarter a year earlier.

ITC's revenue from paperboards, paper and packaging segment during the period was at Rs 1,284.07 crore during Q2 of 2014-15. It was at Rs 1,178.74 crore during the same quarter previous fiscal.
For the first half of the 2014-15 fiscal, ITC's net profit is at Rs 4,611.55 crore. It was Rs 4,121.86 crore in the same period a year-ago.
ITC's Total income from operation in the first half is Rs 18,272.03 crore. It was Rs 15,273.23 crore in the same period last year.
Shares of ITC were trading at Rs 353.75 per scrip on the BSE during the afternoon trade, down 0.31 per cent from its previous close.