ITC Ltd posted a marginal rise in net profit in the third quarter to ₹5,018.45 crore compared with ₹5,013.18 crore in the same period of last fiscal, dragged by provision for increase in liability towards gratuity and leave compensation in the labour code.

The company estimated a one-time impact of ₹354.58 crore in the period on account of the changes. Profit before exceptional items from continuing operations was up by 8.7 per cent to ₹7,108.66 crore on a consolidated basis.

A company spokesperson said profit before exceptional items from continuing operations is the true reflection of a company’s operating performance.

The company reported consolidated gross revenue of ₹21,706.64 crore in Q3FY26 compared with ₹20,349.96 crore in the same period of last fiscal.

The board has recommended an interim dividend of ₹6.5 per share for the financial year ending March 31.

The performance was driven by cigarette and FMCG (food and personal care) segments which posted 5.7 per cent and 39.8 per cent growth in pre-tax profit, respectively.

Dabur net up 7%

Dabur reported third-quarter profit largely in line with analysts’ estimates on Thursday, as the demand boost from the country’s consumption tax cuts offset the one-time charge from a labour code revision.

The FMCG major reported a 7.32 per cent year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit at ₹553.61 crore in the December quarter of FY ‘26, helped by a broad-based performance. It had posted a net profit of ₹515.82 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue from operations was up 6.06 per cent to ₹3,558.65 crore, compared with ₹3,355.25 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The company took a one-time hit of ₹1,505 crore due to the implementation of India’s new labour codes.

Swiggy loss at ₹1065cr

Swiggy posted a smaller sequential loss and reiterated that it aims to hit a key profitability metric in the first quarter of next year, driven by strong growth in its Instamart quick‑commerce business.

Swiggy posted a consolidated loss of ₹1,065 crore ($115.8 million) for the December quarter, compared with ₹1,092 crore in the previous quarter, though losses remained wider than the ₹799 crore it reported a year earlier.

The company said it remains confident of achieving contribution-margin break-even in the first quarter of FY27.

With inputs from Reuters and PTI