ITC Q4 Results: Cigarette volume growth between 2-3%; Dividend of ₹7.5 per share declared

The cigarette business, which contributes the most to ITC’s overall topline, reported revenue growth of 7.7% for the quarter, compared to the same period last year. The CNBC-TV18 poll had projected ITC’s cigarette business to report revenue growth between 4% to 5%.

Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) for the cigarette business grew at 5%, also higher than the CNBC-TV18 poll of 3% to 4%.

The hotels-to-foods conglomerate reported a net profit of ₹5,020.2 crore, which was marginally lower than the CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹5,115 crore.

Revenue for the quarter stood at ₹16,579 crore, which was marginally lower than the estimate of ₹16,992 crore. On a year-on-year basis, ITC’s revenue grew by 1.1%.

“I am quite positive, positively disposed towards this stock and the two areas that seem to be very encouraging while agri has seen a bit of a letdown is that the FMCG numbers have grown. And you can imagine if the company start firing on that cylinder, its going to go places,” said Prakash Diwan, market expert.

Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) for the quarter stood at ₹6,162 crore, which was flat compared to the same period last year but marginally lower than the ₹6,310 crore estimate.

EBITDA margin met expectations at 37.2%, but declined by 70 basis points compared to the same period last year.

For the quarter, ITC’s FMCG business grew by 7% from last year, which is the lower end of the 7% to 9% growth estimates.

Hotels business also saw revenue growth of 15% year-on-year, while its EBIT registered a 33% growth. ITC will seek shareholder approval for the demerger of its hotels business on June 6.

On the flip side, ITC’s Agri revenue declined by 13% from last year, while the street was expecting the segment to grow between 5% to 6%.

Decline in revenue for the paper segment has been on expected lines. The 7% drop is the midpoint of the 5% to 10% drop.

ITC’s board has also declared a final dividend of ₹7.5 per share for financial year 2024.

Shares of ITC have recovered from the day’s low, currently trading 0.7% higher at ₹442.95.