Cigarettes-to-hotel company ITC Ltd on Tuesday reported a 15.6 per cent rise in net profit at ₹2,186 crore for the first quarter ended June 30.
It had reported a net profit of ₹1,891 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Net sales, during the period, saw a near 25 per cent increase to ₹9,164 crore compared with ₹7,339 crore in the year-ago period. Tax expense saw a substantial jump of 24 per cent to ₹1,079 crore (₹871 crore).
Revenue from cigarettes stood at ₹4,201 crore, an increase of around 19 per cent (₹3,537 crore) during the period.
Agri-business was the second highest contributor towards revenue, accounting for 36 per cent, or ₹3,296 crore of the net sales. The paperboards, paper and packaging segment witnessed an 11 per cent increase to ₹1,288 crore.
FMCG businesses under the “others category” that include branded packaged foods, snacks, staples, stationery, personal care products, safety matches and agarbattis and confectionary and bakery items also witnessed a near 11 per cent growth to ₹1,935 crore.
Hospitality sector However, revenue in the hospitality sector saw a marginal dip of ₹1 crore (or 0.40 per cent) to ₹248 crore for the first quarter of FY-14. “The hospitality sector continued to be adversely impacted by the weak economic conditions and high levels of room inventory leading to a relatively weak pricing,” ITC said in a release.
The hotel business suffered a loss of ₹12 crore for the first quarter. The loss was due to a ₹14.3-crore additional depreciation charge. ITC is also going ahead with the expansion of its projects such as the ITC Grand Bharat at Manesar near Gurgaon and other properties in Hyderabad and Kolkata.