ITC reported a 15 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 343 crore on a 21 per cent higher net
sales of Rs 1,408 crore for the first quarter of the financial year. The results have been
marked against the revised results of the last financial year, following the merger of ITC
Bhadrachalam Paperboards with the company with effect from April 2001.
Cigarette sales rose 10 per cent, while sustained investments led to the opening of seven
more Wills Lifestyle stores, launches in the greetings cards business and expansion of the
product range in the food products segment. While hotel revenues were sluggish, revenues
from paperboards, paper and packaging grew 50 per cent as a result of a shift to
value-added products. Farm product exports more than doubled to Rs 269 crore, mainly on
account of non-basmati rice exports. The e-choupal initiative, spread over 1,020
installations covering 6,000 villages, now covers soya, wheat, rice, coffee, marine
products and tobacco through a portal for tobacco farmers.
The markets greeted ITC results by pushing the scrip up 2.7 per cent to a day's high of Rs
644 and a low of Rs 619 on the National Stock Exchange. A total of 520,000 shares were
traded.
