ITC's top investor BAT considering further stake sale in Indian FMCG major

The development comes almost a year after BAT sold around 3.5 per cent of its stake in ITC for around $2 billion

English cigarette maker British American Tobacco (BAT) on Tuesday said it is considering further reducing its stake in Indian FMCG giant ITC.

 

According to a report from news agency Reuters, BAT may reduce its stake through an on-market sale. Currently, it is ITC's top investor with a 20.3 per cent stake.

 

The development comes almost a year after BAT sold around 3.5 per cent (436.9 million shares) of its stake in ITC for around $2 billion.

 

The UK-based company, known for cigarette brands like Dunhill and Lucky Strike, did not provide further details of how much stake it plans to offload and noted that there is no assurance the transaction will proceed, the report added. 

 

Strategic move from ITC Hotels 

Earlier this year, BAT's chief executive, Tadeu Marroco, also said that the firm will divest its stake in ITC Hotels “at the right moment”.

 

“BAT has no interest in becoming a long-term shareholder of a hotel chain in India. And as a consequence, at the right moment, when we decide the best time to maximise shareholder value, we will be divesting. And we will be using the proceeds to ensure that we get to the leverage corridor of 2.5 and 2 by 2026," Marroco said.

 

As of December 2024, British American Tobacco (BAT) holds a 15.3 per cent stake in ITC Hotels. 

 

ITC Q4 result 

Last week, ITC reported a sharp rise in consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter of financial year 2025 (Q4 FY25) due to an exceptional gain from discontinued operations, specifically related to the demerger of the company’s hotels business.

 

The consolidated net profit for Q4 FY25 stood at ₹19,727.37 crore — nearly four times higher than the ₹4,934.80 crore reported in Q4 FY24. However, profit from continuing operations stood at ₹5,155.27 crore.

 

Revenue from operations rose marginally to ₹20,376.36 crore in Q4 FY25, compared to ₹20,349.96 crore a year earlier. Sequentially, revenue rose from ₹18,561.59 crore in Q3 FY25.