Itc Net Up 27% To Rs 792 Crore

Tobacco-to-hotels company ITC Ltd on Wednesday said it had registered a 27 per cent growth in net profit in 1999-2000 to Rs 792 crore against Rs 623.42 crore clocked in the previous year.

The board has recommended a dividend of Rs 7.50 per share compared with last year's Rs 5.50 per share.

The company's profit before tax crossed the Rs 1,000-crore mark for the first time to Rs 1,229 crore, logging a 31 per cent increase over the previous year. The company's turnover grew to Rs 8,069.37 crore from Rs 7,700.96 crore.

The earnings per share touched a new high of Rs 32.29 compared with Rs 25.40 the previous year. Other income fell to Rs 116.31 crore compared with Rs 121.79 crore.

According to a company statement, these results were achieved through cost management, productivity improvements, continuous value addition to products and services, enhancement of quality to international standards and strengthening brand equity.

These actions have significantly improved net trading margin to 35.12 per cent.