ITC Q4 preview: Net profit may fall 2% YoY, operating margin likely to shrink

MUMBAI: is likely to report muted earnings for the quarter ended March on Tuesday, in-line with its lackluster stock performance in the calendar year so far. Analysts expect the cigarette maker to report net profit of Rs 3,729 crore, down nearly 2 per cent year-on-year.

The company’s net sales in the reporting quarter may see a growth of 12.2 per cent on-year to Rs 12,169.7 crore aided by the low base of the year-ago quarter. Analysts also expect the company’s cigarette volumes to rise 2-9 per cent in the quarter.

In the year-ago quarter, ITC’s cigarette volumes plummeted 10 per cent due to a stringent national lockdown that severely affected out-of-home consumption.

The company’s non-cigarette fast-moving consumer goods business is expected to report another quarter of firm earnings. While the health and hygiene segment may see some softness in the quarter, sequential trend in demand is likely to stay strong, said brokerage firm Kotak Institutional Equities.

Brokerage firm Centrum Broking expects the non-cigarette FMCG business to report revenue growth of 10 per cent on-year in the quarter aided by a low base in the year-ago quarter.

On the operating front, analysts expect the company to report earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of Rs 4,204 crore for the quarter ended March. However, ITC’s operating margin is likely to shrink 51-170 basis points on-year to 35.5-37.2 per cent.