ITC Q4 Results: FY22 performance of Cigarette, Agri-Biz Boost firm

Salt-to-hotel company ITC Limited reported that the combined revenue from its FY2021-22 operations, supported by higher performance of its cigarette and agribusiness segments, increased by 22 percent. Its operating income for the year stood at Rs 65,205 crore – up from Rs 53,155 crore in the previous year.

Cigarettes continue to be the largest business segment for Kolkata-based companies, delivering an impressive 16 per cent increase in sales. Revenue from the segment increased from Rs 22,557 crore in FY 2020-21 to Rs 26,158 crore. The recovery in cigarette sales per year proves that the business had declined the previous year.

“After a challenging fiscal year 2020-21, and despite repeated setbacks this year, the business has slowly recovered from improved mobility and easing restrictions, surpassing pre-epidemic levels in the latter half of the year. The business has effectively learned from institutional strengths, digital technology and the previous wave to respond swiftly across all nodes of operations, ”the company management said in a statement.

In addition to premiumizing the portfolio, ITC has launched several new products to fill the gaps with changing customer preferences. A number of different variants were introduced to cater to the needs of the ever-evolving consumer and to ensure the future readiness of the portfolio. These include ‘Classic Connect’, ‘Gold Flake Neo Smart Filter’, ‘Wills Protech’, ‘Capstan Excel’, ‘American Club Smash’, ‘Gold Flake Kings Mixpod’, ‘Gold Flake Indy Mint’, ‘ Launches. Wave Boss’ and ‘Flake Nova’. The business has expanded its presence in Focus Market by launching separate offers across different segments, ”it said. In addition, it uses Industry 4.0 and new technologies under Data Science to create a smart manufacturing environment for connected systems.

The agribusiness, which is now the second largest segment for ITC, excluding non-cigarette FMCG from the spot, has grown by 28% year on year. Driven by strong growth in wheat, rice, spices and leaf tobacco exports – revenue from the business segment stood at Rs 16,466 crore – up from Rs 12,883 crore.

In FY2022, ITC consolidated its pre-famous position as the largest Indian exporter of unadulterated tobacco, improving its market share by around 300 bps.

However, due to the scarcity of containers, it has faced a difficult challenge in exporting other products. “The operating environment was challenging due to disruptions in operations caused by the second and third waves of the epidemic. The severe shortage of containers, traffic congestion at the port and the sharp rise in freight rates have exacerbated the situation, “the agency said.