ITC Declares 10.3% YoY Surge In Q2 Profit At Rs 4927 Crore

Large cap tobacco sector company ITC Ltd on Thursday declared its net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2023 at Rs 4,927 crore, up 10.3% year-on-year (YoY). The company's Q2 revenue from operations announced at Rs 16,550 crore, up 2.6%.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) witnessed a marginal surge of 1% YoY to Rs 4,886.54 crore while operating margin narrowed 44 basis points on year to 29.53%.

ITC's hotels business recorded a rise of 21% YoY to Rs 649.40 crore and paper and paperboards business revenue fell 9.5% on year to Rs 2,070 crore. The company's agriculture business revenue recorded a dip of approximately 2% at Rs 3,931 crore.

ITC declared its revenue from cigarette business at 7657 crore, up 10.13% as against Rs 6953 crore an year ago while the revenue from FMCG business surged by 8.35% YoY to Rs 5293 crore as compared to Rs 4885 crore an year ago.

"In the Stationery business, Classmate Notebooks and Pens witnessed strong growth on YoY basis. Exports continue to be scaled up leveraging capabilities of the state-of-the-art owned manufacturing facility," according to the company's press release.

Last trading price of ITC Ltd share on BSE is Rs 450.30 per share with intraday fall of 0.28% intraday.

ITC Ltd Stock Performance & Return: Current market price of ITC share is Rs 450.30 per share. Its 52-week high price is Rs 499.60 per share and 52-week low price is Rs 325.35 per share, respectively. The company's market capitlisation is Rs 5,60,442.90 crore. ITC stock declined 0.29% in last 1-week, gave 3.06% return in last 2-weeks, fell 6.16% in last 3-months, and soared 30% in last 1-year. ITC stock jumped 82% in last 2-years and gained 166% in last 3-years.

ITC To Acquire 2,286 Equity Shares of Delectable Technologies Private Limited: The company announced today that it has today entered into definitive agreements to acquire further 2,286 Equity Shares of Rs 10/- each of Delectable Technologies Private Limited ('Delectable'), an associate company, subject to completion of agreed conditions precedent. The said shares, once acquired, will take the Company's shareholding in Delectable from 33.42% to 39.32% (on a fully diluted basis), according to the BSE filing of ITC issued today. The cost of acquisition is Rs 3.50 crore approximately.

Delectable is a start-up founded by Mr. Satvik Sarwade, an IITian, in 2014 and is engaged, inter alia, in fabricating vending machines and app based sale of FMCG products through such machines primarily installed across office locations.

ITC Dividend History: ITC announced 27 dividends since July 3, 2001. In last 12 months, ITC announced an equity dividend amounting to Rs 15.50 per share. If the current stock price of Rs 449.75 is taken into consideration, it offers a dividend yield of 3.45%, according to Trendlyne.

Brokerage Viewpoint Ahead Of Results: Earlier, Sharekhan in its report dated October 18 said, the company's cigarette business revenue is expected to be up by 9% y-o-y, aided by 5-6% volume growth, while the non-cigarette FMCG business is expected to grow by 15% y-o-y. The hotel business is expected to grow by 16% y-o-y, aided by sustained strong demand. Paper business is likely to grow by 4% y-o-y, while the agri business is likely to decline by 10% y-o-y. Meanwhile, gross margin/OPM is expected to improve by ~185/150 bps y-o-y, largely due to the softening of raw-material prices, according to Sharekhan.

Adjusted PAT is likely to be declared at 4,793 crore, up 7.3% YoY in line with 5% y-o-y growth in operating profit. PAT is expected to grow by 7% YoY.

ITC About: ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies. ITC has a diversified presence in FMCG, Hotels, Packaging, Paperboards & Specialty Papers and Agri-Business. ITC's aspiration to be an exemplar in sustainability practices is manifest in its status as the only company in the world, of its size and diversity, to be carbon, water and solid waste recycling positive. In addition, ITC's businesses and value chains create sustainable livelihoods for more than 6 million people, a majority of whom represent the poorest in rural India, according to its official website.