Cigarettes-to-soap major ITC Ltd recorded a standalone net profit of INR 5,020.20 crore in the March 2024 quarter, indicating a 1.3 percent decrease year-on-year (YoY). This figure is slightly lower than the net profit of INR 5,086.86 crore reported in the same period last year. Additionally, on a sequential basis, the bottom line remained almost stagnant, comparing with INR 5,572.07 crore from the December 2023 quarter.
The company’s revenue from operations held steady at INR 17,571.72 crore in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24, reflecting a 1.4 percent decrease year-on-year (YoY). This compares with a revenue of INR 17,506.08 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year. Additionally, in the quarter ending on December 31, 2023, the company’s revenue reached INR 17,224 crore.
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In the quarter, EBITDA stood at INR 6,162.6 crore, marking a 0.8 percent decline, with the EBITDA margin falling 70 basis points year-on-year to 37.2 percent. The company’s earnings were impacted by stagnant cigarette volumes and reduced FMCG margins.
The company has proposed a final dividend of INR 7.50 per share for the financial year ended on March 31, 2024, pending approval by the Members at the upcoming annual general meeting (AGM) scheduled for Friday, July 26, 2024. If approved, the final dividend will be distributed between July 29, 2024, and July 31, 2024.
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Breaking down by segments, revenue from the cigarettes business saw a 7 percent year-on-year increase to INR 8,689 crore in the March 2024 quarter, compared to INR 8,092 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Similarly, the profit before tax (PBT) for the cigarettes business rose by 5 percent year-on-year to INR 5,157 crore in the preceding quarter.
The FMCG-others business recorded revenues of INR 5,308 crore in the fourth quarter, reflecting a 7 percent increase from INR 4,951 crore reported in the same quarter of the previous year. However, the profit before tax (PBT) for this segment declined by 5 percent to INR 480 crore.
Following the quarterly earnings, ITC shares remained largely unchanged on Thursday. The stock was observed at INR 445, a marginal increase of one percent, with a total market capitalization exceeding INR 5.52 lakh crore. This comes after the stock closed at INR 439.75 in the preceding trading session.
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