ITC on Thursday posted 7.37 per cent rise in standalone net profit to Rs 2,560.50 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2017, driven mainly by revenue growth from FMCG and cigarettes business.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 2,384.67 crore for the April-June quarter a year ago, ITC said in a BSE filing.
ITC’s net sales during the period under review was up 4.29 per cent to Rs 13,722.21 crore, as against Rs 13,156.68 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
“The company delivered steady performance during the quarter against the backdrop of a challenging business environment marked by continuing pressure on the legal cigarette industry, sluggishness in demand for FMCG products exacerbated by de-stocking in trade channels ahead of implementation of GST,” said ITC in a statement.
The Kolkata-headquarted company’s total expenses were up 3.34 per cent to Rs 10,332.61 crore as against Rs 9,998.18 crore of Q1 FY 2016-17.
Revenue from total FMCG business including cigarettes increased 7.15 per cent to Rs 11,375.05 crore from Rs 10,615.75 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.
During the quarter, revenue from cigarettes increased 6.60 per cent to Rs 8,774.16 crore, from Rs 8,230.60 crore in the year-ago period, despite “high incidence of taxation on cigarettes was further compounded by the steep increase in taxes announced by the GST Council.”