ITC Ltd, whose mainstay is the cigarettes business, on June 26 reported a 6.5 percent drop in its revenues for the fourth quarter of FY20.
The company which announced its quarterly results on June 26,reported that the revenues from its cigarette business for in the fourth quarter (Jan-Mar) of FY21 was Rs 5,130.5 crore, compared to Rs 5,485.92 crore a year ago. EBIT fell 11 percent on year to Rs 3403 crore.
The company reported a profit of Rs 3,797 crore for the quarter ended March 2020, registering a 6.5 percent growth YoY, partly supported by lower tax cost following decline in tax rate. Profit in corresponding period of last year was at Rs 3,481.90 crore.
The revenue of its hotel business dropped 8.6 percent on year in the fourth quarter of FY20.
The hotel business had posted strong growth in segment revenue and segment results of around 19 percent and 29 per cent, respectively, during the first nine months of the year, a press release said.
It further said that the momentum was sustained in January and February, but the business was severely impacted by the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic towards the end of the year.
"Just as the business environment was showing signs of an incipient recovery in the beginning of the fourth quarter, the onset of Covid-19 pandemic changed the situation dramatically," the company said in a release.
In the full year (FY20), ITC's profit grew by 21.4 percent to Rs 15,136.05 crore, partly due to lower tax cost, and revenue (excluding excise duty) increased 1.4 percent to Rs 45,619.7 crore compared to previous year.
Revenue from operations during the quarter fell 6.4 percent year-on-year to Rs 11,420 crore due to nationwide lockdown for more than a week in March 2020. Revenue (excluding excise duty) dropped 9.6 percent to Rs 10,842.2 crore compared to corresponding period last fiscal.
At the operating level, EBITDA margin, which was ahead of analysts’ estimates, expanded 30 basis points to 38.4 percent, partly due to lower employee expenses and raw material cost. A CNBC-TV18 poll estimates for margin were at 37.4 percent.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was down 8.9 percent to Rs 4,163.5 crore in Q4FY20 YoY.
ITC said in case of FMCG-others segment, EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 256.47 crore, increasing compared to Rs 228.27 crore in same period last year, while the full year FY20 EBITDA jumped to Rs 914 crore from Rs 688.2 crore in previous year.
During the lockdown period, ITC launched two products under the Savlon brand - advanced hand sanitizer Savlon Hexa and surface disinfectant spray.
The stock price gained 37 percent from its March lows, but corrected 15 percent year-to-date (2020) and 28 percent during the March quarter.
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