ITC profit up 17% in Q3

ITC Ltd kept the Indian Shining story going today and reported a 17 per cent rise in post-tax profits in the third quarter (Q3) ended December 31, 2003, of Rs 380 crore against Rs 323 crore in Q3 ended December 2002.

Gross income, after adjusting for the one-off opportunity of non-basmati rice exports last year of Rs 115 crore, in Q3 of this fiscal to Rs 2,992 crore from Rs 2,779 crore in Q3 of the previous fiscal.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter was Rs 15.38, up from Rs 13.07 in Q3 of the last fiscal.

In the nine months ended December 2003, gross turnover topped Rs 8,732 crore (from Rs 8,355 crore in the nine months ended December 2002) while profit before tax stood at Rs 1,794 crore (Rs 1,592 crore) and profit after tax at Rs 1,205 crore (Rs 1,047 crore).

EPS was Rs 48.7 for the nine months of this fiscal (Rs 42.34 in nine-months of the last fiscal).

Cigarettes continued to dominate ITC's business portfolio with segment revenue Rs 2,302 crore in Q3 of this fiscal (Rs 2,155 crore in Q3 of last fiscal), with segment pre-tax profit at Rs 510 crore (Rs 467 crore).

Its paper business reported revenues of Rs 314 crore (Rs 289 crore) and pre-tax profit of Rs 59 crore (Rs 63 crore), while revenues from hotels grew to Rs 70 crore from Rs 54 crore and pre-tax profits shot up to Rs 11 crore in Q3 of the current fiscal (Rs 5 crore in Q3 of the last fiscal).

The agri-business reported marginal loss of Rs 1 crore (from profit of Rs 8 crore) as revenues dipped to Rs 378 crore in Q3 of this fiscal from Rs 397 crore in Q3 of the last fiscal.

The other consumer goods business group, comprising garments, cards, foods and stationery) also reported higher losses at Rs 37 crore (Rs 30 crore) on higher revenues in Q3 of this fiscal at Rs 88 crore (against Rs 37 crore in Q3 of the last financial year). This was on account of start-up costs.

ITC's newly-launched new cigarette brands Insignia, Wills Silk Cut and the Star variants of Scissors, Capstan and Bristol sold strongly, the company said as did its new India Kings Lights.

ITC's e-choupal network was further ramped up during the quarter and is expected to touch nearly 4100 installations by March this year, reaching out to 2 million farmers in close to 18000 villages in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

Pilot runs in respect of various rural marketing initiatives are underway and business models are being fine-tuned prior to scaling up, the company said in a release.

Agri-business operating profits were adversely impacted primarily on account of slower marketing of the current Mysore leaf tobacco crop and delayed export shipments of soya, it added.

ITC reported strong sales of its 'Sunfeast' biscuits from 74 markets and of its 'Candyman' confectionery range.

The 'Aashirvaad Ready Meals' banner was expanded with the addition of 'pav bhaji' and 'pindi chana'.

In menswear, the mid-priced 'John Players' range hit a record 3250 outlets in 580 markets.

The 48-shop 'Wills Lifestyle Stores' was extended to 65 multi-brand outlets (MBOs) and 16 large format retail stores (LFRs) during the quarter.