ITC net profit up 10% in Q4

Kolkata, May 16: Cigarette-to-FMCG major ITC Ltd on Wednesday reported a close to 10 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 2,932.71 crore in the quarter ended on March 31, compared with Rs 2,669.47 crore in the year-ago period.

On a comparable basis, gross sales during the quarter stood at Rs 17,933.48 crore, representing a growth of 3.6 per cent, over Rs 17,315.75 crore in the corresponding period of 2016-17.

“Gross sales value excluding agri business grew by 5.7 per cent driven by FMCG others and hotels. Agri business growth was impacted on account of a high base (imported wheat trading), limited trading opportunities in agri commodities such as wheat, soya, coffee and lower leaf exports during the quarter,” the company said in a statement.

Revenue from cigarettes during the March quarter fell by almost 45 per cent to Rs 4,936.45 crore over Rs 8,954.94 crore in same period of previous fiscal. Its cigarette revenue during the year ended March 31, also decreased by 32 per cent to Rs 22,894.01 crore.

The company said the punitive and discriminatory taxation and the regulatory regime continues to exert severe pressure on the domestic legal cigarette industry even as illegal cigarette trade has been growing unabated.

“The legal cigarette industry, already reeling under the cumulative impact of a steep increase in taxation over the last five years and intense regulatory pressures, was further impacted by the sharp upward revision in GST Compensation Cess announced in July 2017,” the company said. IANS