ITC Ltd has beaten Street estimates by posting a marginal 2.61 per cent profit rise at ₹5,186.55 crore in the three months ended September 30 compared with ₹5,054.43 crore a year ago, backed by the performance of the cigarette division even as the non-cigarette FMCG business faced challenges from excessive rains in parts of the country and transition to the new GST rate regime.
Revenue from operations was down 1.3 per cent, below market expectations, at ₹21,255.86 crore in Q2FY26 compared with ₹21,536.38 crore a year ago. Profit from continuing operations rose 4.16 per cent to ₹5,186.55 crore from ₹4,979.14 crore in Q2FY25 after factoring in the demerger of the hotel business to a separate listed entity effective January 1.
The ITC board, which met on Thursday to approve the results, also decided to appoint Amitabh Kant, former G20 Sherpa and Niti Ayog CEO, as an independent director of the company for five years with effect from January 1, 2026. It also extended the tenure of wholetime director Hemant Malik for another two years, effective August 12, 2026.
While the cigarette division’s profit before tax was up 4.19 per cent to ₹5,462.1 crore and revenue 6.04 per cent to ₹9,414.34 crore in Q2, PBT of the non-tobacco FMCG business and agri business were nearly flat at ₹438.72 crore and ₹453.61 crore, respectively. However, the segment revenue of the agriculture business rose 31 per cent to ₹4,037.8 crore in Q2.
The PBT of the paperboard division was down 22.7 per cent to ₹181.39 crore, and the company attributed the weakness to a challenging operating environment, with a sustained influx of low-priced supplies into global markets, including India, elevated domestic wood prices and subdued realisations.
Commenting on the business environment in general in the second quarter, ITC said high frequency indicators suggested mixed trends. While rural demand continued to demonstrate resilience, urban consumption witnessed an uptick. Industrial growth, core sector growth, automobile sales, credit growth and electricity and fuel consumption remained relatively subdued.
Excessive rains in many parts of the country and transition to new GST rates posed operational challenges, especially for FMCG.