ITC Ltd registered 16.2% rise in net profit at Rs 1,592.85
crore in 2003-04 against Rs 1371.35 crore in the previous fiscal. The company's net income
was up 11% to Rs 6,695.32 crore against Rs 6,035.37 crore in the previous year, while
total expenditure rose 10.7% to Rs 4,109.85 crore compared to Rs 3,712 crore in 2002-2003.
ITC's net profit in Q4 of 2003-04 surged 19.8% to Rs 387.06
crore against Rs 323.42 crore in the year-ago period. Net income in the period was up
22.6% to Rs 1,938.16 crore compared to Rs 1,579.93 crore. The board of directors, which
met here on Friday to adopt the results, recommended a dividend of Rs 20 per share against
the previous year's Rs 15 per share, which would entail a cash outflow of Rs 495 crore.
The company's profit before tax in 2003-04 increased 12.8%
to Rs 2,319.06 crore against Rs 2,056.19 crore and net interest liability was Rs 24.79
crore against Rs 29.84 crore in 2002-03. While depreciation rose by 2.1% and stood at Rs
241.62 crore against Rs 237.34 crore in the last fiscal. The company paid Rs 726.21 crore
as tax in 2003-04 against Rs 684.84 crore in the last fiscal, an increase of 6%. ITC
leveraged its leadership in the cigarettes segment with a revenue growth of 5.3% at Rs
9,230 crore against Rs 8,764 crore last year. The company's operating profit in this
segment stood at Rs 2,033 crore against Rs 1,923 crore in 2002-03, a rise of 5.7%.
ITC Ltd's new FMCG businesses posted a rapid topline growth
on the back of new product launches and extension of the existing product range to target
markets. Revenues from these businesses grew three-fold during the year at Rs 304 crore
against Rs 109 crore in 2002-03. However, the division increased its losses to Rs 174
crore against Rs 122 crore last year. In the year under review, ITC's hotel business
posted a growth in revenues of 33% at Rs 257 crore against Rs 193 crore in 2002-03.
Profit before tax trebled compared to last year and stood
at Rs 32 crore against Rs 10 crore. ITC more than doubled its e-Choupal network during the
year, adding over 2,000 choupals. Till date, 4,150 choupals have been set up, reaching out
to over two million farmers in over 20,000 villages across India.
Agri commodity exports of soya, rice, coffee and marine
products touched Rs 574 crore during 2003-04, an increase of 58% over the previous year.
The revenues from the agri business stood at Rs 1,709 crore against Rs 1,658 crore in the
previous year, an increase of 3%. Operating profits of this division stood at Rs 90 crore
against Rs 84 crore of 2002-03, a rise of 7.1%.
The company's paper board, specialty paper and packaging
business saw 18% higher sales of value-added products. The revenues from this division
were at Rs 1,253 crore against Rs 1,163 crore last year, a rise of 7.7%. Profit before tax
was at Rs 230 crore against Rs 226 crore in 2002-03, an increase of 1.8%.
PUFF AND TOUGH
