Stable taxation supports ITC in volume recovery

Unchanged taxation on cigarettes expected to bolster market share

- TANMAY TIWARY

Shares of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) behemoth ITC rose 4.58 per cent to hit an intraday high of ₹493.50 per share on Friday.

The stock, which was the top gainer both on Sensex and Nifty 50, closed with gains of 2 per cent at ₹482. This comes after ITC reported a robust set of numbers in Q2FY25.

The company's consolidated profit for the period came in at ₹5,054.4 crore, up 1.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), from ₹4,964.5 crore in the same quarter a year ago (Q2FY24).

ITC's revenue from operations (less excise duty) surged 16.7 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹20,735.9 crore in Q2FY25 from ₹17,774.5 crore in Q2FY24.

At the operating front, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) soared 4.8 per cent to ₹6,761.8 crore in Q2FY25, from ₹6,454.24 crore in Q2FY24.

However, margins took a dent as they squeezed 370 basis points (bps) to 32.6 per cent in the September quarter of FY25, from 36.3 per cent in the September quarter of FY24.

ITC's cigarette segment saw a 7.3 per cent rise in revenue with profit before interest and tax (PBIT) growing 5.1 per cent. The FMCG giant's cigarette volumes rose 3 per cent during the quarter under review.