BHUBANESWAR: FMCG major ITC Ltd on Wednesday reported a 9.9 per cent increase in net profit for the fourth quarter ended on March 31, 2018, driven mainly by non-cigarette FMCG and hospitality businesses.
Net profit rose to Rs 2,933 crore in the four months ended March 31, 2018, from Rs 2,669 crore in the year-ago period.
The company had posted net sales of Rs 10,705.75 crore during the quarter under review, as against Rs 14,882.75 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal, it said in a BSE filing. Revenue from operations dropped by 28 per cent to a Rs.10,813 crore. After implementation of GST in July last year, revenue for the March quarter is reported as net of GST, whereas in the year-ago period excise duty and VAT was included in the revenue, said ITC.
The Kolkata-headquartered company saw its revenue from total FMCG business, including cigarettes, dive to Rs 7,988.27 crore during the quarter, down from Rs 11,840.70 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal.
Revenue from the sale of cigarettes dropped by nearly 45 per cent to Rs 4,936 crore (Rs.8,955 crore). The performance reflects the severe pressure on legal cigarette industry volumes due to a steep escalation of tax incidence under the GST regime even as the illegal trade grows unabated.
“While overall tobacco consumption in the country continues to grow, the share of duty-paid cigarettes has come down substantially over the years and is estimated to account for around 11 per cent of current tobacco consumption in the country,” the company said in the statement.
Revenue from others segments in the FMCG category rose 5.7 per cent at Rs. 3,051.82 crore.
The board has also re-designated Sanjiv Puri, chief executive officer and whole-time director, as the managing director of the company with effect from May 16.