Indian conglomerate ITC Ltd on Thursday reported a 24.08 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 4,670.32 crore for the second quarter that ended September 30, 2022. The company had recorded a net profit of Rs 3,763.73 crore during the corresponding quarter last year. ITC’s revenue from operations witnessed a 25.35 per cent jump to Rs 18,608 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal. The company’s revenue in the year-ago period stood at Rs 14,844.38 crore.
The total expenses in the July-September quarter stood at Rs 12,823.87 crore. ITC’s shares settled at Rs 349.70 on BSE, which rose 0.77 per cent from the previous close.
The Kolkata-headquartered company’s gross revenue stood at Rs. 16,971 crore representing a growth of 27.1 per cent year-on-year (YoY). EBITDA came out at Rs 5,864 crore, up by 27.1 per cent YoY. The profit after tax grew by 20.8 per cent YoY to Rs 4,466 crore and earnings per share for the quarter stood at Rs 3.6 (previous year Rs 3.0).
However, input prices remained elevated even as some commodities witnessed softening in course of the quarter. Inflationary headwinds continued to weigh on consumption expenditure which was partly offset by the early onset of the festive season this year in some parts of the country.
ITC Hotel segment revenue was recorded at Rs. 536 crore (up 25.6% over Q2 FY20). The hotel segment’s EBITDA went up to 138 crore YoY and 68 crore over Q2 FY20.
The FMCG businesses also witnessed strong growth across channels and markets (both urban and rural) driven by a ramp-up in outlet coverage, enhanced penetration and last-mile execution. “Sharp escalation in input costs was mitigated through multi-pronged interventions viz. strategic cost management, premiumisation, supply chain agility, judicious pricing actions, fiscal incentives, leveraging digital and optimising channel assortments,” the company said.
The FMCG segment’s EBITDA margins expanded by 280 basis points over Q2 FY20.