5 Takeaways from ITC's Q4 Results

Cigarette to FMCG major ITC on Wednesday reported its quarterly results for the period ended March 2022.

In the current market environment, where even fundamentally strong stocks and bluechips are taken to cleaners, shares of ITC have outperformed peers and also the benchmark indices.

There are various factors which have led to the recent rally. For digging deep, you can check out this piece: ITC: Load, Aim...Fire!

As ITC has performed well, investors were eager to see what the company has to report this time after the strong show it put in the December quarter.

Here are five takeaways from ITC's March quarter results:

• ITC's consolidated net profit for the quarter under review rose 11.7% to Rs 42 bn. This compared with a net profit of Rs 37.6 bn posted in the year-ago period.
  
  Sequentially, net profit rose 3.4%.
• ITC posted a 16% growth in revenue from operations at Rs 164.3 bn for the quarter under review.
  
  This was due to strong growth across all businesses despite the third Covid wave.
• ITC's agri-business registered revenue of Rs 43.8 bn as against Rs 33.8 bn in the year ago quarter.
  
  The sharp growth was driven by wheat, rice, leaf tobacco exports.
• In its earnings release, ITC said the operating environment during the year remained extremely challenging due to the pandemic, unprecedented inflation, and the geopolitical tensions towards the end of the year exacerbated the situation.
• The company's board recommended a final dividend of Rs 6.25 for the financial year ended 31 March, 2022. The dividend will be paid between 22 July 2022 and 26 July 2022.
  
  It has fixed 28 May 2022 as the record date for payment. This dividend is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs 5.25 per share.

On Wednesday, ITC share price opened the day at Rs 266.9 against its previous close of Rs 264.6.

It traded in a range throughout the day and ended 1% higher.

Ahead of its results on Tuesday, ITC shares surged 4%.

Over the past one year, shares of the company have gained 27%. On a YTD basis, the gains stand at a handsome 22%.

At the current price, the company trades at a price to earnings (P/E) multiple of 21.7 and a price to book (P/BV) value of 5.6 times.

About ITC

Established in 1910, ITC is India's biggest cigarettes & one of the largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company with 78% market share in cigarettes and presence in staples, biscuits, noodles, snacks, chocolate, dairy, and personal care products.

The company is also present in paperboard, printing & packaging business with revenue of Rs 45.5 bn and agri-business with Rs 80 bn as of fiscal 2021.

The company completed 100 years in 2010 and it employs over 36,500 people at more than 60 locations across India and is part of the Forbes 2000 list.

To know more, check out ITC company fact sheet and quarterly results.

For a sector overview, read our FMCG sector report.

You can also compare ITC with its peers:

ITC vs VST Industries

ITC vs Godfrey Philips

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