ITC Ltd first-quarter profit rises 7.4 percent, misses estimates

(Reuters) - Cigarettes-to-biscuits maker ITC Ltd reported a 7.4 percent increase in quarterly profit, helped by higher sales from its cigarettes segment.

Profit rose to 25.61 billion rupees ($399.47 million) in its first quarter ended June 30, from 23.85 billion rupees a year earlier, India's biggest cigarettes maker said on Thursday. http://bit.ly/2ePSVDp

Analysts on average had expected the company to post a profit of 25.81 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Revenue from operations rose about 4 percent to 138 billion rupees, while revenue from its cigarettes segment grew 6.6 percent.

($1 = 64.1100 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)