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India's diversified entity <keyword id="19896958" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ITC" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="ITC" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="ITC">ITC</keyword> plans to open more hotels overseas with neighbouring countries and the Middle East as primary target markets after opening of its first international property here, company Chairman and Managing Director <keyword id="20049280" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjiv-Puri" source="keywords">Sanjiv Puri</keyword> said on Thursday. The company's arm <keyword id="20032522" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ITC-Hotels" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="ITC Hotels" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="ITC Hotels">ITC Hotels</keyword>, which had opened 22 new properties in the last 24 months, plans to add another 70 hotels in the next five years in India as part of expansion plans in the <keyword id="20402233" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hospitality-sector" source="keywords">hospitality sector</keyword>. Besides the hotels business, the company will look for opportunities to expand the presence of <keyword id="19931572" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FMCG" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="FMCG" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="FMCG">FMCG</keyword> and other verticals in new overseas markets as well. "We are open to exploring opportunities that come about. I think we have strong credentials in hospitality which we can take outside India now. Very clearly at the moment the focus is on proximal markets, be it for hospitality, be it for FMCG...," Puri said here at a press conference after the opening of the 352-room luxury property, <keyword id="20911944" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="itc-ratnadipa" source="keywords">ITC Ratnadipa</keyword> here. He said as the company explores and understands a place for a particular business, it may look at it as a market for other verticals as well. Citing the example of Nepal, Puri said,"We started with other businesses and are now looking at hospitality (there). Here (in Sri Lanka) we have started with hospitality...as we explore and understand the place, we will look at possibilities in some of our other sectors as well." On overseas expansion of the hospitality business, while the company's focus is more on 'proximal markets', he said,"We are open to it if there are some interesting opportunities beyond it. We will certainly be interested in pursuing that." When asked if ITC is looking at the Middle East as a market for the hospitality business, he said it is a vibrant economy right now with terrific growth plans and "if opportunity comes our way then we will certainly explore that". Puri also said the company will look to expand in more destinations in Sri Lanka going forward. "This (opening of ITC Ratnadipa) is the starting point and yes, we want to expand and grow the economy and contribute to the development of tourism in Sri Lanka," he said. When asked about ITC's overall expansion plans in the hospitality sector, he said,"We have a very healthy pipeline of 70 hotels in five years." All these 70 hotels are for the Indian domestic market and most of them will be the upscale segments. He, however, said "(For) overseas we're just starting our journey. So we have not yet got to the stage to start putting a number right here." On investments planned for the overall expansion, he did not share a specific number but said "between renovation and new properties will spend somewhere between Rs 700 crore to Rs 1,000 crore a year". When asked about the progress of the demerger of ITC Hotels and its planned public listing, Puri said it is happening in line with the indicated timelines and is expected "before the second half of this year or the end of this year". At its new property here, the company had invested about USD 500 million. It was inaugurated on Thursday by Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The ITC Ratnadipa or 'Island of Gems' has 352 guest rooms, suites and service apartments, each with private balconies with waterfront views. Earlier in the day, speaking at the opening of the new hotel, Puri said,"It is very natural for us to specifically focus on markets in proximal areas, encouraged also by our Prime Minister's (Narendra Modi) vision of neighbourhood first where Sri Lanka has a very special position. ITC is deeply committed to growing our presence and contributing to hospitality in the region." 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ITC plans to open more hotels overseas: CMD Sanjiv Puri

<ul><li>ITC stock is now trading at an attractive valuation after BAT’s stake sale, say analysts.</li><li>After the stake sale, there won’t be major uncertainties hovering around the stock.</li><li>The stock has been underperforming the index and should pick up, expect brokerages. </li></ul> <keyword id="20372001" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cigarettes" source="keywords">Cigarettes</keyword> to <keyword id="19931572" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fmcg" source="keywords">FMCG</keyword> major ITC’s stock corrected slightly ahead of British American Tobacco’s (BAT) stake sale. Now that the British tobacco giant’s 3.5% stake in the company has been offloaded via a block deal last week, there are few uncertainties around it. More so, after the correction, the stock is now looking attractive, say analysts. “The stock has corrected by around 12% from its recent high and is trading at an attractive valuation. Given that the uncertainties related to the stake sale are over, we believe it is the right time to enter into a quality large-cap company in the FMCG space with attractive valuations and a good dividend distribution policy,” said a recent report by <keyword id="19952951" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sharekhan" source="keywords">Sharekhan</keyword>. A roller-coaster journey The ITC stock had been one of the top performers of 2023, as the stock hit a fresh high of ₹489 per share last July – facilitating its entry into the coveted ₹6 trillion club. However, in the last three months, ITC has shed 7% of its value as the uncertainties around the stake sale cast a shadow over the stock. Now, the uncertainty is gone, and the prospects seem better. After the stake sale, BAT’s stake in the company stands at 25.5%. Any further stake sale can only happen after 180 days of the locking period. “It is unlikely to reduce its stake below 25%. Post the stake sale by BAT, there will not be any major uncertainties hovering around the stock,” adds Sharekhan. <keyword id="19977638" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="morgan-stanley" source="keywords">Morgan Stanley</keyword> too believes that ITC, which has underperformed the index, will rise relative to the country index in the next one month. “In our view, BAT stake sell down of 3.5% in ITC clears the supply overhang on the stock, as seen recently. ITC stock has underperformed the market by 8%. We expect resumption in the stock's outperformance given our fundamental view of a moderate and infrequent cigarette tax environment and continued scale-up of non-cigarette businesses, important catalysts for the stock's re-rating,” opines Morgan Stanley. FMCG and other fundamentals Apart from the expectations of a stable tax environment for cigarettes, analysts believe that there are other triggers ahead for the stock. The company has been driving growth across its many business verticals — be it FMCG, hotels, paper and agriculture business. The contribution of the non-cigarette business has increased to 27% from around 17% in FY13. It has also been growing its FMCG business with M&amp;As, product diversification, a resilient supply chain as well as a smart omnichannel network. “Strong traction to product launches and increased e-commerce salience to around 10% will help the non-cigarette FMCG business’s revenue to consistently grow in mid-teens to high teens in the coming years,” says Sharekhan. Its hotels business however has been tracking well, with solid double-digit growth in the last few quarters. Most analysts expect the domestic demand for travel to continue and business travel to pick up an even faster pace going ahead. Added to that, they also see foreign travel picking up, and ITC with its high-end properties could gain. “Hotels and agribusiness should continue strong momentum while paper business seems to be bottoming out. Strong cash generation and a solid dividend yield should continue to provide downside support. The hotel business demerger is positive and we expect an accelerated re-rating if it is followed with similar actions in FMCG/IT businesses as well,” says a report by <keyword id="20489750" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="systematix" source="keywords">Systematix</keyword> in January.

Less stress on ITC stock after BAT’s stake sale, say analysts

<ul><li>Price cuts taken in mass segments will erase pricing-led growth seen in FMCG companies.</li><li>Few analysts are confident that price cuts will add to volume growth in Q2.</li><li>Without a meaningful rural recovery, volume growth will remain slow. </li></ul>It might be a slow second quarter for FMCG companies with hazy volume recovery and tapering raw material effects. The rise of new and local players have been eating into the business of top FMCG players. And, they chose to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/soap-opera-fmcg-players-kick-off-price-war-to-bring-back-whats-lost/articleshow/103657469.cms">take price cuts in mass categories </a> during the quarter. Analysts are divided on how much price cuts will add to volume growth. A report by Centrum said that price cuts pushing are primary volumes but off-take lags. The demand for packaged foods is rising but hair oils, toothpaste categories saw falling volumes. “Selling prices have been rationalised given the drop in commodity costs but there has not been a commensurate increase in volumes yet,” said J M Financial. The pricing-led growth in FMCG companies is now a thing of the past. Without significant volume recovery, revenues are ecpected to remain subdued this quarter. “We expect low single digit volume growth and low-to-mid single-digit value growth for most FMCG companies, with the tapering of pricing growth due to price cuts and/or anniversarization of price hikes. The underlying rural demand remains subdued. Uptick, if any, would be optical off a low base,” said a report by Kotak Institutional Equities. Analysts believe that without a meaningful recovery in rural demand which is yet to pick up, volume recovery will remain slow. Even tapering inflation during the quarter has not improved the rural consumer sentiment due to unseasonal rains. Moreso, the festive consumption of discretionary items also comes with a lag this year due to the ‘Adhik Mas’ effect. Raw material benefits slip On the other hand, the margin growth seen last quarter due to lower raw materials will also taper off. The raw material index has moved up by 8-9% over the last three months. Between July and September, crude oil prices rallied by 20%, and commodities will not be as benign as they were in Q1. On a year-on-year basis however their costs will be lower, adding to margins due a favourable basis. “A favourable base would still drive strong year on year gross profit margin expansion and earnings for September quarter, but some of the margin gains would be in the base soon especially given the recent uptick in raw material prices,” said J M Financial. The stress of rising competition will also eat into margins in more ways than price cuts. Players will continue to ‘normalise’ brand-building investments that were run down during the hyper-inflationary phase in FY23. “Most companies have indicated that a large part of gross margin savings will be invested behind brands. Hence, operating margin expansion will be lower compared to gross margin expansion,” said Sharekhan. Investors will watch out for management commentary on how volume uptick in the second half of the year. And a picture on when rural India will see a full-fledged recovery. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div>

Price cuts might not bring in volume growth for FMCG majors in Q2 say analysts

<ul><li>FMCG companies are expected to register strong margins in Q1 as they will see the full effect of earlier-taken price hikes playing out. Cooling raw material prices will help. </li><li>Demand for staples have been stable, but the beauty and personal care category has not yet recovered fully. </li><li>The summer has seen a decline or low growth in ice creams and juices due to unseasonal rains. </li></ul>With cooling raw material costs, the FMCG sector is expected to kick in the first quarter of FY24 with ‘good quality’ profits, backed by improvement in margins. Input costs have been cooling over the last few quarters and have either remained stable or seen mild moderation, and companies have not been passing them off very generously in the form of price cuts. “We expect most of the companies to register stronger sequential gross profit margin (GPM) improvement in 1Q24F with input cost inflation cooling down further, high-priced inventory getting consumed and the full effect of earlier-taken price hikes playing out,” said a research report by Nomura. Certain categories such as hair oils, edible oils and soaps had witnessed price cuts in earlier quarters, which will flow through in the first quarter, as per BNP Paribas. Also, new price cuts and promotions were seen in laundry, edible oils and other home care categories during the quarter but no major price cuts were seen in biscuits and salts. Double digit revenue growth expected Price cuts and volume growth for the sector are directly proportional for the sector, and as of now most of growth seen in the sector was pricing-led. But that’s changing, analysts say. Demand from urban areas has been stable, with slight sequential improvement in rural demand as well. Also, the demand for staples have been stable, but the beauty and personal care category has not yet recovered though improving due to the price cuts. All in all, the sector should be able to present a good revenue growth for the quarter – notwithstanding the cooler summer this April-June with unseasonal rains that affected sales of juices and ice creams. “We estimate staples/discretionary (ex-ITC) pack to register 10.2%/8.8% revenue growth. We expect a good quarter from Nestle, Godrej Consumers and ITC and a weak print from Marico,” says a report by Kotak. Antique Stock Broking also expects the FMCG sector (not including ITC) to report early double digit revenue growth with moderation in pricing led growth. ITC is expected to see a fall in revenue as its agri business is expected to see a drop due to high-base effects. Nomura expects Nestle, Tata Consumers and Dabur to report the highest revenue growth YoY, and with ITC and Marico to post lower value growth. FMCG sector revenue growth projections YoY <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nomura </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kotak Institutional Equities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Antique Stock Broking </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">HUL </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;"> 9.1% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">9.1% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">9% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ITC </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-6.1% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.6%* </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Marico </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">6.5% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4.2% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Dabur </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">9.4% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">9% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Godrej Consumer </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10.2% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">NA </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tata Consumer Products </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">11.3% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">12.5% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">NA </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nestle India </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">15.7% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">16.6% </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">16% </td></tr></tbody></table>Source: Research reports *Kotak has considered standalone results for ITC Price cuts &amp; rising competition The street will closely watch management commentary on pricing, as analysts believe that the sector is poised for a good show in the first half of FY24 with a raw material cost tailwind. “However, in the second half of FY24 we expect revenue growth to moderate as pricing benefits should fade and growth would have to be volume-led,” said a report by BNP Paribas. There has been no aggressive price war as of now in the sector as of now, but if price cuts are not taken by large players in the segment, it might lead to unorganized players gaining market share. In the last one year, many consumers have ‘downtraded’ to unbranded products or local brands during periods of high inflation. “Prices of most stock keeping units (SKUs) have increased sharply over the last two years. Soap and detergent prices have risen 40-50% over that period. So far the price cuts have been limited and largely confined to the value segment. We believe price cuts might be needed to drive volumes,” said BNP Paribas. Without pricing strategies laid out, most FMCG players might see revenue growth challenges re-emerge this year, especially in the second half. 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FMCG sector Q1 preview — Caught between price cuts and volume growth

Encouraged by volume growth, margin improvement and recovery in rural sales, India's top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are now back to their normal growth cycle as they step up investments as well as spending on advertising and marketing. <keyword id="84065" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fmcg-companies" source="Orion">FMCG companies</keyword> are chasing volume growth again after a gap of a few quarters, offering higher grammage and price cuts thanks to inflationary pressures softening on key raw materials for everything from soaps to food items. Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Dabur, Marico, Godrej Consumer Products, ITC, Tata Consumer Products and Nestle reported volume recovery in the March quarter and said they expect a gradual pickup in consumption in FY24. "The prospects of a sustained recovery have strengthened. After five quarters of volume decline, the sector has posted volume growth," Marico MD and CEO Saugata Gupta said in the company's earnings conference call. "Urban consumption has been steady while rural is showing some convincing signs of having bottomed out." Foods continue to drive growth for the sector, while the home and personal care segment also entered positive territory after an extended slowdown. Marico, which owns popular brands like Saffola, Parachute and Livon, reported an 18.7 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 305 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2023 while sales rose 3.65 per cent to Rs 2,240 crore, driven by single-digit volume growth and moderation in commodity prices. HUL said rural areas have shown improvement with higher value growth sequentially. While HUL's volumes continue to fall, the extent of decline has reduced versus last quarter. "The slowdown in the FMCG market is bottoming out. This improvement was led by volumes, which have turned flat in this quarter, versus a mid-single-digit decline in the December quarter," said HUL CFO Ritesh Tiwari in its earnings call. The makers of popular brands such as Rin, Lux, Surf Excel and Pond's said it expects the price-volume growth to rebalance further. "We expect volumes to recover gradually due to high levels of cumulative inflation and the fact that consumption habits typically recover with a lag," he said. For the March quarter, HUL reported an increase of 12.74 per cent in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,601 crore. Net sales rose 10.83 per cent to Rs 14,926 crore. However, HUL warned the near-term operating environment is likely to remain volatile due to global slowdown risk and uncertainty related to weather phenomena like El Nino and heatwaves. Abneesh Roy, Nuvama Group Executive Director for Institutional Equities, said the outlook for the <keyword id="495979" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fmcg-industry" source="Orion">FMCG industry</keyword> was "positive" with volume growth and improvement in margins for most companies in FY24. "As raw material prices are cooling off, companies shall start paring prices via grammage increase or gradual price reductions. Price growth shall ease while volume growth will improve," he said. Roy also cautioned about the impact of El Nino and the "aggression" from billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd, a known disrupter, which aims to be a big player in the USD 110-billion FMCG segment. Meanwhile, Godrej Consumer reported an 11.47 per cent increase in its India revenue to Rs 1,822.92 crore in the March quarter. This was led by volume growth of 11 per cent. Its home care segment, which consists of household insecticides and air fresheners, grew 14 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively. "We expect to build on the current momentum and deliver volume-led growth along with upfront marketing investments and improvement in profitability," said its Managing Director and CEO Sudhir Sitapati. Britannia Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Varun Berry also expressed optimism. "Volume growth will be certainly much better than this year," he said. On commodity prices, Berry said there is deflation in prices of palm oil, laminates and corrugated material for packing but flour and milk prices are soaring. "There are certain brands and certain packs where we have already initiated price reductions or promotions," he said. In the March quarter, Britannia reported a 47.53 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 557.60 crore. Its revenue from operations rose 10.93 per cent to Rs 3,892.02. Similarly, Dabur reported volume growth of 11 per cent during the March quarter and 14 per cent for FY23. Its quarterly net profit was Rs 292.76 crore and revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,677.8 crore. "Despite near-term concerns around inflationary pressures, we plan to accelerate the growth momentum by continuing to invest in brand building, innovation, and capabilities that will drive growth," said Dabur India CEO Mohit Malhotra. Other companies also recorded growth. ITC's revenue from the FMCG segment rose 19.34 per cent to Rs 4,951.17 crore from Rs 4,148.62 crore while EBITDA jumped 76 per cent. Nestle, the maker of Maggi, Kitkat and Nescafe, reported an increase of 24.69 per cent in its net profit to Rs 736.64 crore in the March quarter. Sales rose 20.43 per cent to Rs 4,808.40 crore. Tata Consumer reported a 21.12 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 289.56 crore. Its revenue from operations was up 13.96 per cent at Rs 3,618.73 crore. Tata Consumer said it recorded growth in the India beverages business and food. It had a "strong margin growth and strong topline growth driven both by volume and price," the company said in its earnings call. "We have started seeing volume growth coming back. The impact of inflation and monetary tightening on economic growth and demand seems to be slowing down, but I would keep my fingers crossed and monitor it closely," said Tata Consumer MD and CEO Sunil D'Souza. "In the near term, we are seeing stability." SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/zomato-net-loss-narrows-to-188-crore-in-q4-revenue-rises-70-yoy/articleshow/100358894.cms">Zomato net loss narrows to ₹188 crore in Q4, revenue rises 70% YoY</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/mankind-pharma-pnb-among-stocks-to-become-largecap-from-midcap-mutibagger-rail-vikas-nigam-to-turn-midcap-from-smallcap/articleshow/100356527.cms">Mankind Pharma, PNB among stocks to become largecap from midcap; mutibagger Rail Vikas Nigam to turn midcap from smallcap</a>

FMCG makers expect sustained recovery in volume and margins with price reduction in FY24

ITC stock scales 52-week high as brokerages hike target price

<ul><li>ITC's market capitalisation is now back to ₹4 lakh crore surpassing Adani Enterprises, Asian Paints, L&amp;T – after a gap of five years.</li><li>One factor adding to the optimism was ITC’s strong spike in net profit, which went up 33% in Q1 on a strong show in cigarettes, hotels and agri segments.</li><li>ITC Hotels segment was the outlier as it generated over three-fold revenue during the June quarter.</li></ul>Shares of Kolkata-based FMCG-to-cigarette conglomerate have surged 47% in 2022 led by strong financials in previous quarters. Following the surge, ITC's market capitalisation has touched ₹4 lakh crore once again surpassing Adani Enterprises, Asian Paints, L&amp;T — after a gap of five years. One factor adding to the optimism was ITC’s strong Q1 performance with a strong show in cigarette, hotels and agri segments. Analysts have been bullish on ITC and the <keyword id="34529" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fmcg-sector" source="Orion">FMCG sector</keyword> in general driven by demand revival after the pandemic, despite high inflation. Analysts expect the cigarettes segment to hold up its revenues. “With no price hikes in the near term and government action on curbing illicit cigarettes will help ITC to maintain volume growth momentum in the cigarette business. Strong growth in non-cigarette FMCG business, recovery in the hotel business and sustained strong growth in the paperboard, paper and packaging (PPP) business will drive double-digit revenue and PAT growth over the next two years,” said analysts at Sharekhan. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nifty 50 stocks below ₹4 trillion m-cap </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Market cap </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ITC </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹4 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Adani Enterprises </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.96 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Adani Total Gas </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.95 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Kotak Mahindra Bank </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.80 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Adani Green Energy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.77 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Asian Paints </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3.28 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Avenue Supermarts </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2.96 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Bajaj Finserv </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2.76 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">L&amp;T </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2.72 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Maruti Suzuki </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2.69 lakh crore </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">HCL Tech </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.8333325pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:2pt 2pt 2pt 2pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2.50 lakh crore </td></tr></tbody></table>ITC Hotels segment was the outlier in April-June quarter as it generated over three-fold revenue during the June quarter. Bookings went back to pre-pandemic level thanks to weddings and vacations. Business travel too resumed, adding to its growth. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Segment revenue </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Q1 FY23 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Q1 FY22 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">% change </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Total FMCG (including cigarette biz) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹11,922 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹9,534 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">25% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hotels </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹580 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹133 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">336% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Agri business </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹7,492 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹4,109 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">82% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Paperboards, papers &amp; packaging </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2,267 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,582 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">43% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Others </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹735 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹680 crore </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">8% </td></tr></tbody></table> “We expect ITC to sustain strong recovery momentum given improved outlook/ delivery in cigarettes business (benign taxation/ share recovery), stronger performance in FMCG and sharp recovery in hotels/ paper business,” said a report by Axis Securities. KR Choksey, in a report, said that ITC has seen strong revenue traction across its business segments. “Green shoots are visible in the cigarettes business while increased economic activity is benefitting consumption growth in FMCG, and packaging businesses. Hotels business is on a trajectory to deliver pre-pandemic performance.” SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/the-upcoming-flush-season-holds-the-key-to-cooling-milk-prices-ceo-of-godrej-jersey/articleshow/93945118.cms">The upcoming ‘flush’ season holds the key to cooling milk prices - CEO of Godrej Jersey</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-enterprises-nifty50-inclusion-to-increase-inflows-by-around-200-mn-say-analysts/articleshow/93946139.cms">Adani Enterprises’ Nifty50 inclusion to increase inflows by around $200 mn, say analysts</a>

ITC’s marketcap is back to ₹4 lakh crore after a 5-year gap

The stock value of diversified conglomerate <keyword id="186707" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="itc-limited" source="Orion">ITC Limited</keyword> saw a fresh three-year high of Rs 316.65 on the stock exchange in Tuesday's intra-day trade. The share value was up by 3 per cent. The development came soon after the company declared its results for the first quarter of FY23, recording an all-round robust growth across businesses in terms of both revenue and profitability. On Monday, <keyword id="1968926" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sanjiv-puri" source="Orion">Sanjiv Puri</keyword> led <keyword id="6357073" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="itc" source="Orion">ITC</keyword> reported a 38 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in its consolidated net profit which stood at Rs 4,169 crore, as compared to Rs 3,013 crore last crore. The company's net sales too saw a 41 per cent spike and stood at Rs 18,164 crore, while EBITDA was up 41.5 per cent on Y-o-Y basis. According to ITC, a strong performance by all business segments is responsible for the Q1 growth. Some of the highlights of the company's performance in FY23 include a record quarterly growth in the revenue and profits for Paperboards, Paper, and Packaging segments; highest quarterly revenue, highest profits in over 14 years, and highest ever Q1 profits in the Hotels segment; and highest quarterly revenue for the Agri and <keyword id="34523" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="fmcg" source="Orion">FMCG</keyword> segments. According to ITC, the out-of-home, and education and stationery segments too performed strongly. People aware about developments within the conglomerate said that through the strategic initiatives led by Sanjiv Puri, ITC's attempts to mitigate high input costs through strategic cost management, premiumization, supply chain agility, judicious pricing actions, fiscal incentives, leveraging digital, optimizing channel assortments, and favorable business mix can be credited for this robust growth. The company's deep and wide multi-channel distribution network with growing presence in emerging channels and tailored channel-specific assortments continue to deliver competitive advantage through superior product availability, visibility, and freshness. "While inflation continues to be a big concern for the industry, moderation in prices of key commodities in recent times, along with strategic interventions by the central government and the <keyword id="6354335" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india" source="Orion">Reserve Bank of India</keyword>, could result in economic recovery. This could lead to companies like ITC faring well in the coming quarters of FY23 and beyond. In my opinion, ITC will record double-digit growth across business segments going forward," said <keyword id="13079" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rahul-sharma" source="Orion">Rahul Sharma</keyword>, Market Strategist and Head of Research, Equity 99. In a recent interaction with the media a day after the company's AGM, ITC Chairman Sanjiv Puri had highlighted how an asset-right strategy for Hotels, focus on consumer needs and newer segments for FMCG, and the launch of ITC MAARS for Agri business will create new vectors of growth for the group and enable it to perform better than the industry average. ITC's stock hit a 52-wwek high of Rs 308.80 on Monday ahead of the company announcing its quarterly results. The stock is already up 40 per cent year-to-date. "The industry had expected a strong fiscal quarter show from the company but the Q1 FY23 numbers reflect a performance above expectations. This development is likely to give a fresh upward push to ITC stock in the near future, as is being predicted by most experts," added Rahul Sharma of Equity99. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/the-commodity-boom-is-over-across-energy-metals-and-agri-products-sp/articleshow/93297349.cms">The commodity boom is over across energy, metals and agri products: S&amp;P</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/bharatpe-founder-bhavik-koladiya-quits-months-after-ashneer-grovers-termination/articleshow/93296794.cms">BharatPe founder Bhavik Koladiya quits months after Ashneer Grover’s termination</a>

ITC stock hits a 3-year high after strong Q1 results

<ul><li>For the first time, cigarette business contributed to less than half of ITC’s total sales. </li><li>Since 1996, the non-cigarette business grew 21-fold. </li><li>Tough regulations and tax are posing challenges to the company’s cigarette business. </li></ul>It took over two decades but Indian Tobacco Company or ITC successfully transitioned from selling cigarettes to other businesses like fast moving consumer goods like wheat flour, ready-to-eat foods, shampoos and soaps amongst others. For the first time in its century-long history, cigarette business contributed to less than half of its total sales. For the financial year that ended in March 2019, the cigarettes business accounted for 45.8%, as per<a href="https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-of-brands/how-itc-s-strategy-to-reduce-revenue-dependency-on-cigarettes-worked-in-its-favour/69781151"> an ET report</a>. ITC has since diversified into hotels, agriculture and FMCG. It now has successful brands under its kitty like Ashirwaad, the consumer wheat flour brand, Yippee which is a ready-to-eat snacks brand, Bingo chips and Vivel; apart from incense sticks. Moreover, ITC’s chain of hotels has 90 hotels in India, and is expanding internationally too. Since 1996, the non-cigarette business grew 21-fold, and it is also pushing in money behind it. As much as 80% of capital deployed is flowing into other businesses. Up in Smoke The 109-year-old company which started as Imperial Tobacco Company while the country was still under British rule, shed its reliance exclusively on tobacco 60 years into business. The company had predicted decades back that times will get tough for this business, and moved into other areas. And, its predictions have come true, affecting its flagship business. Tough regulations and taxes in the industry are posing challenges to the company’s cigarette business with over 15 popular brands that include Gold Flake, Navy Cut, Players, Scissors and Capstan. “A punitive and discriminatory taxation and regulatory regime, together with sharp increase in illegal trade in recent years, continue to pose significant operating challenges to the legal cigarette industry in the country,” ITC said in its annual report, released on June 13. The taxation on cigarettes after the implementation of Goods and Services Tax, went up by 20%. Between 2011-12 and 2017-18, the tax on cigarettes has trebled. In fact, cigarettes are the most taxed tobacco item, as it is 55 times higher than other tobacco products, effectively turning smoking, unaffordable.

As cigarette business goes up in smoke, ITC pads itself with candy and curds

<keyword id="6357073" type="DOMAIN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ITC">ITC</keyword> Limited has informed the <keyword id="6402868" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="stock-exchanges">stock exchanges</keyword> that news with regard to a potential demerger of the company is "speculative in nature". "We write to advise that the news item under reference is speculative in nature," the ITC said in a filing with reference to the news item in a TV channel. "We draw your attention that if and when there is any material development with respect to the affairs of the Company, the Stock Exchanges are kept advised, pursuant to <keyword id="163506" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="regulation">Regulation</keyword> 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 read with the Company's Policy for determination of materiality of events and information for disclosure to the Stock Exchanges," the ITC said. As per reports, ITC is readying a demerger plan with a big unlocking of value for shareholders. After ITC Demerger, there would emerge as many as three companies namely hotels, <keyword id="34523" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="fmcg">FMCG</keyword> and <keyword id="35554" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="infotech">infotech</keyword>, as per reports. The Board Meet of ITC will happen in April where the management will discuss the demerger. This is a long term process and the company has been working on it since long and now seems that it is in the final stages of getting demerged, the report said. Investment Bankers have also started working on demerger. Paper, <keyword id="62486" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Textiles">Textiles</keyword>, Cigarettes and other FMCG companies will be a flagship company and other two businesses, hotels and Infotech, will be separate businesses, the reports said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/kishore-biyani-future-group-appeals-to-the-singapore-arbitrator-to-exclude-future-retail-from-the-fight-with-amazon/articleshow/81562016.cms">Ahead of Delhi High Court's decision, Future Group appeals to the Singapore arbitrator to exclude Future Retail from the fight with Amazon</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/indian-spacetech-startup-pixxel-space-gets-7-3-million-funding-before-the-launch-of-its-first-satellite/articleshow/81562421.cms">Indian spacetech startup Pixxel gets $7.3 million in funding as it announces a new product even before the launch of its first satellite</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-adds-3-times-more-subscribers-than-reliance-jio-vodafone-idea-turns-positive-for-the-first-time-in-15-months/articleshow/81562851.cms">Airtel adds 3 times more subscribers than Jio while Vodafone Idea gets net addition first time in 15 months</a>

ITC  inform stock exchanges that reports of demerger are 'speculative'

<ul><li><keyword id="2931774" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nifty50" source="Orion">Nifty50</keyword> companies’ December-quarter revenue is likely to grow 16% over last year, says a report by Phillip Capital.</li><li>Analysts expect it to be a tepid quarter for most sectors, including infrastructure, specialty chemicals, IT and metals.</li><li>However, analysts say banks will continue to outperform with strong tailwinds for the sector despite global challenges.</li><li>NBFCs, FMCG and autos are likely to report moderate to robust growth in the quarter.</li></ul>Yet another earnings season has begun, as always, with IT services companies reporting a mixed set of numbers. That pretty much sets the tone of the quarter as strategists expect Nifty50 companies to report on-year revenue growth of 16% and a 10% growth in net profit. Analysts expect it to be a tepid quarter for most sectors, including infrastructure, specialty chemicals, IT and metals. On the other hand, sectors like banks, NBFCs, FMCG and autos are likely to report moderate to robust growth in the quarter. “Q3FY23 is expected to be a soft quarter along with slight margin improvement. We will be watching for management commentary on India and global demand outlook,” says a report by Phillip Capital. “We are of the view that the financial sector will continue to perform while consumption space will remain under pressure. Investment space is expected to perform well led by public and private capex expansion.” Seasonally weak quarter for IT, Reliance to have a strong quarter <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/infosys-results-q3-fy23-infosys-raises-revenue-guidance-for-fy23-to-16-16-5/articleshow/96941824.cms">TCS has kicked off </a>the earnings seasons with lower-than-estimated growth – it reported a 3.98% sequential growth in net profit at ₹10,846 crore in the December quarter. On the other hand, Infosys beat analysts’ expectations with a 20.2% y-o-y increase in its revenue to ₹38,318 crore in Q3 and raised its full-year revenue growth guidance. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hcl-tech-lowers-revenue-guidance-for-fy23-to-13-5-14-q3-revenue-and-profit-growth-beat-expectations/articleshow/96944379.cms">HCL Technologies </a>reported a 19.6% year-on-year growth in its topline to ₹26,700 crore, while its net profit grew 19% YoY to ₹4,096 crore, beating analyst <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/earnings/hcl-tech-to-announce-q3-results-on-thursday-heres-a-preview-of-what-to-expect/articleshow/96915899.cms">expectations</a> in both the areas. Analysts had expected muted revenue growth from the IT services sector in the third quarter on account of it being a seasonally weak quarter. “The December quarter is a seasonally weak quarter mainly due to higher furloughs. In addition, macro challenges are leading to weakness in mortgage, luxury retail, high-tech and slowdown in 5G capex,” said a report by IDBI Capital. Furlough is a leave of absence from work for which the employee is not paid. Meanwhile, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries is expected to announce a robust quarter due to strong recovery in the retail segment along with decent uptick in other segments. “We expect Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) consolidated PAT to increase by 27% q-o-q to ₹17,316 crore due to improvement in standalone earnings on better refining/petchem margin, decent growth at Jio and strong recovery for retail business,” said a report by Sharekhan. Banks to see strong December quarter on higher loan rates Net interest margin (NIM) will see sequential improvement as lending rates have risen in line with RBI’s repo rate increases, say analysts. Since May last year, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/rbi-hikes-repo-rate-by-35-bps-taking-rates-to-a-high-of-6-25/articleshow/96045841.cms">RBI has hiked interest rates by 225 basis points so far</a>. While banks benefited from rate hikes in Q2, analysts see more room for a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/sbi-hdfc-bank-axis-bank-among-other-private-and-public-bank-earnings-could-see-a-further-ramp-up-in-q3-2022/articleshow/96768992.cms">further ramp up in Q3 </a>as well. “We believe business momentum for banks is expected to remain strong, led by strong tailwinds in the sector and is likely to sustain over the medium term as higher inflation gets tamed, revival of the capex cycle, higher consumption, and increased business confidence,” said a report by Sharekhan. “Strong asset quality outlook, additional provision buffers, higher PCR (provision coverage ratio) levels, increased capital buffers, and core credit cost undershooting augur well for the sector,” added the report. FMCG may get a boost from price hikes The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is expected to pass the quarter with flying colours on the back of price hikes amid elevated inflation. “Most of the consumer companies are expected to report decent revenue growth; however, a majority of revenue growth will be driven via price hikes, which companies have taken in past quarters to combat unprecedented raw material inflation. Rural demand continues to remain muted. Delay in winter to impact winter portfolio,” said Phillip Capital. “We expect our FMCG universe to deliver sales/ EBITDA/ PAT growth of 11%/ 7%/ 8% YoY in 3QFY23. Sustained inflation impacted both volume offtake and margins,” said a report by Antique Stock Broking. ITC is seen reporting strong growth across businesses with the cigarette business registering a double-digit volume growth. Detergents will likely drive Hindustan Unilever's performance, with margins recovering q-on-q due to a moderation in palm oil - a key input. Autos to reap benefits of festive quarter Despite the near-term challenges of semiconductor chip shortage and geopolitical challenges, analysts are optimistic about autos based on high demand for passenger and commercial vehicles. “Q3FY2023 is expected to be a strong quarter with a 20.4% y-o-y increase in revenue. Margins are expected to show improvement on a q-o-q basis, led by operating leverage benefits, cost rationalisation, and softening commodity prices,” said a report by Sharekhan. Further, strong demand, easing supply constraints, and falling commodity prices are likely to provide relief to automobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and ancillary companies. Ferrous players expected to outperform non-ferrous companies Ferrous players – Tata Steel and JSW Steel – are expected to post better Q3FY23 earnings compared to non-ferrous companies, which include Hindustan Zinc, Hindalco Industries and Vedanta. “For Q3FY23, we expect steel producers to post higher EBITDA QoQ primarily due to sharp fall in coking coal and iron ore price offsetting decline in sales volume sequentially,” said a report by Centrum broking firm. After a challenging first half of the financial year, the domestic steel industry should witness a better second half, says Elara Capital. “The recent removal of exports duty and the likely rise in domestic demand led by the start of the busy season should lead to healthy volume for domestic steelmakers,” the report said. For non-ferrous companies, there are expectations of a marginal fall in quarterly operating profits due to fall in LME (London Metal Exchange) aluminium and zinc prices. Cement sector: Easing input costs in 2H FY23 to drive earnings Analysts say the cement industry is seeing a healthy demand environment with improving cement process and decline in pet coke and coal prices. “Weighted average EBITDA/tonne is expected to recover sharply from a multi-quarter low to ₹765 owing to q-o-q improvement in cement prices, higher demand, and easing power and fuel costs. Hence, operating profits and net profits are expected to rise by 50.9% q-o-q and 77.8% y-o-y, respectively,” said a report by Sharekhan providing estimates for cement companies. The report said that it expects cement demand to remain healthy in the second half of FY23 alongside improving operating margins. Further, analysts will eye commentaries on ongoing and future capex plans. BPCL, HPCL, IOC to benefit from falling oil prices Oil marketing companies – BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil Corporation – will likely benefit from Brent crude oil prices being on a downtrend since the last couple of months due to a lockdown in China, one of the biggest consumers of oil. “We expect OMCs’ operating performance would improve on sequential basis in Q3FY23 as marketing under recoveries would reduce sharply supported by a ~$11/bbl q-o-q decline in crude oil price while there has been no change in the retail petrol/diesel price,” said a report by Sharekhan. The report added that it expects all three OMCs to report positive EBITDA – Indian Oil (₹ 5,836 crore), BPCL (₹3,112 crore) and HPCL (₹629 crore) in Q3FY23 compared to negative EBITDA of ₹8,841 crore, ₹4,148 crore and ₹1,859 crore in Q2FY23, respectively. Under recoveries is the gap between the cost and the selling price of fuel. If the selling price is lower than the cost price, higher the under recoveries. Thus, a fall in crude oil prices benefits these companies at a time when there has been no hikes in petrol and diesel prices. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hcl-tech-lowers-revenue-guidance-for-fy23-to-13-5-14-q3-revenue-and-profit-growth-beat-expectations/articleshow/96944379.cms">HCL Tech lowers revenue guidance for FY23 to 13.5-14%, Q3 revenue and profit growth beat expectations</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/infosys-results-q3-fy23-infosys-raises-revenue-guidance-for-fy23-to-16-16-5/articleshow/96941824.cms">Infosys raises revenue guidance for FY23 to 16-16.5%, revenue growth beats analyst expectations</a>

Nifty50 set to clock 10% increase in profit in Q3; banks likely to outperform

In spite of significant disruptions during the year, <keyword id="6357073" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="itc" source="Orion">ITC</keyword> posted robust growth in revenues and profits, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. ITC's consumer-centricity, agility in seizing market opportunities, focus on execution excellence and proactive strategic interventions enabled it to post robust growth. Overall for FY 2021-22, gross revenue at Rs 59,101.09 crore increased by 22.7 percent, while EBITDA increased by 22 percent to Rs 18,933.66 crore. Profit before tax at Rs 19,829.53 crore grew by 15.5 percent over the previous year while profit after tax stood at Rs 15,057.83 crore as against the previous year's Rs 13,031.68 crore. Total comprehensive income for the year stood at Rs 15,631.68 crore (previous year Rs 13,277.93 crore). Earnings per share for the year stood at Rs 12.22 (previous year Rs 10.59). An extensive strategy reset has been undertaken in recent years to architect the structural drivers that will power ITC's next horizon of growth and ensure that the enterprise remains future-ready, consumer-centric and nimble. Each of ITC's businesses has pivoted to create new frontiers for the future, with enhanced competitiveness as well as sharper focus on cost management to strengthen the leadership or rapidly enhance market standing in the case of newer segments. As a core element of the ITC Next strategy, the company will continue to explore opportunities to craft disruptive business models anchored at the intersection of digital and sustainability, the two defining trends in the 'new normal', leveraging its institutional strengths. The FMCG-Others segment turned in a resilient performance with segment revenue growing by 8.6 per cent amid subdued demand conditions. After a relatively muted first half, revenue in the second half of the year witnessed double-digit growth. Staples and <keyword id="151485" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="convenience-foods" source="Orion">Convenience Foods</keyword> remained resilient even as the pace of revenue growth moderated on a relatively high base. Discretionary/Out-of-Home categories recorded strong growth surpassing pre-pandemic levels driven by progressive improvement in mobility. Progressive resumption of physical classes at educational institutions led to gradual recovery in the Education &amp; Stationery Products business, however, sales remained below pre-pandemic levels. Segment EBITDA for the year grew by 10 per cent to Rs 1,448.97 crore with margins being sustained at 9.1 per cent in spite of unprecedented inflationary headwinds. To accentuate consumer-centricity, agility and enable sharper focus in the context of the growing scale and complexity of operations, the <keyword id="3506789" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="branded-packaged-foods" source="Orion">Branded Packaged Foods</keyword> businesses have been reorganised into market centric clusters with integrated and empowered teams. Focused interventions made in the recent past have also augmented ITC's multi-channel go-to-market capability, resulting in manifold expansion in the reach and availability of its products. Over the last five years, market and outlet coverage have grown 4x and 1.6x, respectively, while the network of stockists has expanded to 6.4x during the same period. The impact of these multi-dimensional interventions is evident in the substantial margin expansion of 650 bps in Segment EBITDA over the last five years even in the face of significant inflationary headwinds witnessed during the year. After an extremely challenging FY 2020-21, the Hotels Segment witnessed smart recovery driven by the domestic leisure and wedding segments; business travel also saw progressive improvement, albeit remaining well below pre-pandemic levels. Pick-up in revenues together with relentless focus on cost management resulted in a positive swing of Rs 346.63 crore in Segment EBITDA, despite considerable disruptions caused by the two waves of the pandemic during the year. The Agri Business segment delivered stellar performance with segment revenue and results growing by 28.7 per cent and 25.6 per cent, respectively. This was driven by strong growth in wheat, rice, spices and leaf tobacco exports on the back of strong customer relationships, robust sourcing network and agile execution. The Agri Business has been a strong backbone and a key source of competitive advantage for ITC's FMCG and cigarettes businesses. The scope and scale of operations have grown manifold over the years and currently encompass over 4 million tonnes in 22 states and over 20 agri-value chains. The Paperboards, Paper and Packaging segment recorded strong growth of 36 per cent in segment revenue and 54.7 per cent in segment results. This was aided by demand revival across most end-user segments, higher realisations, product mix enrichment and exports. Robust margin expansion of appx. 270 bps was achieved leveraging the integrated nature of the business model, Industry 4.0 and other digital interventions. During the year, <keyword id="121907" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="itc-infotech" source="Orion">ITC Infotech</keyword>'s consolidated total income grew by 16.8 per cent to Rs 2,884.30 crore (previous year Rs 2,469.29 crore). Profit before tax stood at Rs 719.64 crore (previous year Rs 604.13 crore) and net profit stood at Rs 541.04 crore (previous year Rs 451.30 crore). SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/5g-in-india-does-the-aam-aadmi-even-need-it/articleshow/92382529.cms">5G in India – does the aam aadmi even need it?</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/maha-political-crisis-uddhav-thackeray-vacates-his-official-residence/articleshow/92400287.cms">Maha political crisis: Uddhav Thackeray vacates his official residence</a>

You Searched For "itc s fmcg business" and got 12 results

ITC plans to open more hotels overseas: CMD Sanjiv Puri

PTI

Less stress on ITC stock after BAT’s stake sale, say analysts

Katya Naidu

Price cuts might not bring in volume growth for FMCG majors in Q2 say analysts

Katya Naidu

FMCG sector Q1 preview — Caught between price cuts and volume growth

Katya Naidu

FMCG makers expect sustained recovery in volume and margins with price reduction in FY24

PTI

ITC stock scales 52-week high as brokerages hike target price

Bhakti Makwana

ITC’s marketcap is back to ₹4 lakh crore after a 5-year gap

Bhakti Makwana

ITC stock hits a 3-year high after strong Q1 results

IANS

As cigarette business goes up in smoke, ITC pads itself with candy and curds

Katya Naidu

ITC inform stock exchanges that reports of demerger are 'speculative'

IANS

Nifty50 set to clock 10% increase in profit in Q3; banks likely to outperform

Bhakti Makwana

ITC seizes the market; its sales surpass their pre-pandemic levels

IANS

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