ITC Q4 profit rises 12% as cigarette, hotels businesses recover

FMCG major ITC Ltd on Wednesday reported a 12% year-on-year increase in its fourth quarter consolidated net profit to Rs 4,195 crore from Rs 3,755 crore a year earlier. 

The Kolkata-headquartered tobacco-to-hotels conglomerate said its revenue from operations in the quarter ended March 31 were up 15% at Rs 17,754 crore from Rs 15,404 crore in the same three months last year. 

ITC also said that its board recommended a final dividend of Rs 6.25 per share for the financial 2021-22.  

Shares of ITC on Wednesday closed 0.72% higher at Rs 266.50 apiece on BSE. 

Other key highlights

1) Revenue from the cigarette business rose 10% to Rs 7,177 crore during the fourth quarter.

2) Revenue from non-cigarette business, or FMCG-other segment, increased 12% in the fourth quarter.

3) Non-cigarette FMCG segment’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was Rs 374.69 crore, compared with Rs 305.98 crore in the same quarter last year.

4) ITC’s hotel business posted a strong 35% revenue growth in Q4.

5) Revenue from agriculture business climbed 29.6%.

6) For 2021-22, gross revenue at Rs 59,101.09 crore increased by 22.7%.

7) EBITDA for 2021-22 increased by 22.0% to Rs 18,933.66 crore.

8) Profit after tax for 2021-22 stood at Rs 15,057.83 crore versus previous year’s Rs 13,031.68 crore.

Segment performance

ITC said its FMCG-Others segment turned in a resilient performance with segment revenue growing by 8.6% on a relatively high base. After a relatively subdued first half, revenue in the second half of the year witnessed double-digit growth, it said. Segment EBITDA for the year grew by 10.0% to Rs 1,448.97 crore with margins being sustained at 9.1% in spite of “unprecedented” inflationary headwinds.

The education and stationery products industry, which was severely impacted in 2020-21 due to the pandemic, witnessed gradual recovery towards the end of the year driven by progressive resumption of physical classes at educational institutions. However, sales remained below pre-pandemic levels.

The company said its mainstay cigarettes business, which had a challenging 2020-21 and faced repeated disruptions this year, progressively recovered on the back of improved mobility and easing of restrictions. The business surpassed pre-pandemic levels in the latter half of the year, ITC said.

The hotels segment, too, witnessed smart recovery driven by the domestic leisure and wedding segments. Business travel also saw progressive improvement, albeit remaining below pre-pandemic levels.

The agribusiness segment delivered stellar performance with revenue and profit growing by 28.7% and 25.6%, respectively. This was driven by strong growth in wheat, rice, spices and leaf tobacco exports on the back of strong customer relationships, robust sourcing network and agile execution, ITC said.