ITC’s Q4 profit rose marginally to ₹4,874 crore as revenue beat forecasts; full-year earnings boosted by demerger gains and resilient performance across core segments.
ITC Ltd on Thursday reported 0.8% year-on-year (yoy) growth in standalone profit from continuing operations at Rs 4874.71 crore for the fourth quarter ending March 2025, while revenue from continuing operations surged by 9.4% YOY at Rs 18,494.06 crore, beating street expectations.
The comparison with last year's same period excludes the hotel business which has been demerged in January this year as a separate entity listed in the stock exchanges. The continuing operations includes the cigarette business, non-cigarette FMCG business, paper, paperboard and packaging, and the agri-business.
For the full fiscal 2024-25, the conglomerate’s standalone profit from continuing operations went up by 0.9% yoy to Rs 20,091.85 crore, while the revenue from continuing operations surged by 10.3% yoy to Rs 74,236.07 crore. ITC in its earnings release said performance was resilient “amidst a subdued demand environment and sharp escalation in input costs.”
The company said “consumption expenditure is expected to pick up progressively led by continued recovery in rural demand backed by a good monsoon, along with improvement in urban demand amidst lower inflation levels and tax cuts announced in the union budget, which is expected to boost disposable incomes.”
“The cumulative impact of pick-up in government capex in the second half of FY25 and front loading of capex outlay in FY26, along with interest rate cuts and liquidity support from RBI, would also be supportive of growth,” ITC said. It said the cumulative impact of inflationary pressures on household savings, along with muted wage growth over the last few years, had continued to weigh on consumption expenditure, particularly in urban markets.
While the company has reported the hotel business as ‘discontinued operations’ in the financial results for FY25, profit after tax including discontinued operations for the fourth quarter was Rs 19,561 crore which includes an exceptional gain of Rs 15,163 crore as per accounting norms. The overall profit after tax for FY25 (including profit from discontinued operations) stood at Rs 35,196 crore.
The ITC board also recommended a final dividend of Rs 7.85 per share. The scrip price fell by 1.58% on Thursday to close at Rs 426.10 a piece on the BSE when the Sensex fell by 0.79%.
In the flagship cigarette business where ITC accounts for every three out of four cigarettes sold legally, the company’s net segment revenue went up 7.1% yoy and segment profit before interest and taxes (PBIT) up 4.9% yoy for the full fiscal year. The company said there was a volume led growth while premium brands continued to perform well. It said the severe cost escalation in leaf tobacco was partially mitigated through product mix enrichment.
In the FMCG business of packaged food, personal care, stationary products, agarbatti and safety matches, ITC’s full year segment revenue went up by 4.8% yoy while segment PBIT declined by 11.2% yoy. This also led to a decline in the FMCG business earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by 7.5% yoy at Rs 2163.92 crore.
ITC said products like atta, spices, snacks, frozen snacks, dairy, premium personal wash, homecare and agarbatti drove growth. The notebooks business was impacted by competition from local brands who dropped prices while overall premium portfolio sales went up. The company, however, launched over 100 new products during the year.
ITC's full year segment revenue from the paperboards, paper and packaging business went up by 0.9% yoy, while segment PBIT declined by 33.8% yoy due to low priced Chinese and Indonesian supplies, soft domestic demand and unprecedented surge in wood prices. The company's agri-business full year segment revenue went up by 25% yoy and segment PBIT by 18% yoy led by leaf tobacco, value added agri products and rice exports.
The comparison with last year's same period excludes the hotel business which has been demerged in January this year as a separate entity listed in the stock exchanges. The continuing operations includes the cigarette business, non-cigarette FMCG business, paper, paperboard and packaging, and the agri-business.
For the full fiscal 2024-25, the conglomerate’s standalone profit from continuing operations went up by 0.9% yoy to Rs 20,091.85 crore, while the revenue from continuing operations surged by 10.3% yoy to Rs 74,236.07 crore. ITC in its earnings release said performance was resilient “amidst a subdued demand environment and sharp escalation in input costs.”
The company said “consumption expenditure is expected to pick up progressively led by continued recovery in rural demand backed by a good monsoon, along with improvement in urban demand amidst lower inflation levels and tax cuts announced in the union budget, which is expected to boost disposable incomes.”
“The cumulative impact of pick-up in government capex in the second half of FY25 and front loading of capex outlay in FY26, along with interest rate cuts and liquidity support from RBI, would also be supportive of growth,” ITC said. It said the cumulative impact of inflationary pressures on household savings, along with muted wage growth over the last few years, had continued to weigh on consumption expenditure, particularly in urban markets.
While the company has reported the hotel business as ‘discontinued operations’ in the financial results for FY25, profit after tax including discontinued operations for the fourth quarter was Rs 19,561 crore which includes an exceptional gain of Rs 15,163 crore as per accounting norms. The overall profit after tax for FY25 (including profit from discontinued operations) stood at Rs 35,196 crore.
The ITC board also recommended a final dividend of Rs 7.85 per share. The scrip price fell by 1.58% on Thursday to close at Rs 426.10 a piece on the BSE when the Sensex fell by 0.79%.
In the flagship cigarette business where ITC accounts for every three out of four cigarettes sold legally, the company’s net segment revenue went up 7.1% yoy and segment profit before interest and taxes (PBIT) up 4.9% yoy for the full fiscal year. The company said there was a volume led growth while premium brands continued to perform well. It said the severe cost escalation in leaf tobacco was partially mitigated through product mix enrichment.
In the FMCG business of packaged food, personal care, stationary products, agarbatti and safety matches, ITC’s full year segment revenue went up by 4.8% yoy while segment PBIT declined by 11.2% yoy. This also led to a decline in the FMCG business earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by 7.5% yoy at Rs 2163.92 crore.
ITC said products like atta, spices, snacks, frozen snacks, dairy, premium personal wash, homecare and agarbatti drove growth. The notebooks business was impacted by competition from local brands who dropped prices while overall premium portfolio sales went up. The company, however, launched over 100 new products during the year.
ITC's full year segment revenue from the paperboards, paper and packaging business went up by 0.9% yoy, while segment PBIT declined by 33.8% yoy due to low priced Chinese and Indonesian supplies, soft domestic demand and unprecedented surge in wood prices. The company's agri-business full year segment revenue went up by 25% yoy and segment PBIT by 18% yoy led by leaf tobacco, value added agri products and rice exports.
