ITC today beat all expectations with a rise in sales at Rs 3166 crore and net profit at Rs 717 crore in the October-December third quarter (Q3) of the current fiscal against sales of Rs 2556 crore and profit of Rs 537 crore in Q3 of the last fiscal.Company sources said buoyant revenues from its cigarettes, paper and hotels businesses helped improve profits while sales growth was aided by these divisions as well as strong sales of its non-cigarette consumer products like foods.In response, ITC shares rose to around Rs 177 in a market that saw most stocks declining.Its paperboard, agriculture and retail businesses were helped by innovative business models like its e-choupal chain of information technology based rural marts, its choupal-sagar rural malls, and corporate governance initiatives like social forestry and rainwater harvesting, company sources said.With cigarettes still representing more than 60% of revenues, ITC gained from a hike in prices of key brands ahead of the expected imposition of value-added tax (VAT) on cigarettes.Cigarette sales rose 14%, while revenues from its other consumer goods businesses rose 67%.The hotels and agri-business divisions were expected to do better in the January-March quarter in view of the upswing in business in the quarter, while cigarette sales could experience a blip owing to imposition of VAT, company sources said.ITC had reported a Rs 107 crore, or 18% rise in profit after tax (PAT) in the July-September second quarter (Q2) of this fiscal over the comparable quarter of the last fiscal, at Rs 679 crore.The PAT rise in Q2 this year was aided by a Rs 888 crore rise in gross income at Rs 4704 crore in Q2 of financial year 2006-07 (FY07) thanks to sharply higher profits from its cigarette and hotels businesses.In Q2 of the last fiscal (FY06), ITC had reported PAT of Rs 572 crore and gross income of Rs 3816 crore.In the first half (H1) of FY07, profit after tax (PAT) rose Rs 201 crore to Rs 1331 crore on the back of a Rs 1647 crore rise in gross income to Rs 9423 crore, with H1 PBT rising Rs 279 crore to Rs 1924 crore.
