Mumbai, Jan. 17 - India's top tobacco firm, ITC Ltd, on Friday beat market forecasts with a 16 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by strong growth in packaged foods and hotels, as it bolsters its non-cigarette businesses further.
Its shares, which trade at 26.4 times forecast earnings, compared with 26.9 times for rival Hindustan Unilever Ltd , ticked up 0.14 percent to 217.40 rupees in a weaker Mumbai market.
ITC, 31.7-percent owned by British American Tobacco Plc , also has interests in retail and information technology, and is expanding its portfolio of foods and personal care products for a bigger share of the fast-growing market.
Revenue from its non-cigarette consumer goods business grew 50 percent in the December quarter, while revenue from its paperboard and packaging business expanded 12 percent.
The Kolkata-based company said net profit rose to 8.31 billion rupees ($211 million) in the fiscal third quarter to end-December from 7.17 billion a year earlier.
It said net sales rose 9 percent to 34.58 billion rupees. That compared with a Reuters poll forecast of a net profit of 8.14 billion rupees on net sales of 35.9 billion.
Its full-year net profit is forecast to rise 13 percent to 30.94 billion rupees, according to Reuters Estimates.
Growing middle-class incomes as well as the expansion of modern retail in smaller towns are boosting demand for ITC's packaged foods, soaps and shampoos.
It is also expected to introduce detergents to take on leader Hindustan Unilever, which is forecast to post a 9 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit to 5.59 billion rupees.
A value-added tax of 12.5 percent from last April has slowed sales of cigarettes, which make up about half its revenues, while firm prices of raw-materials such as crude oil and soda ash are weighing on its soaps and packaging businesses.
Shares in ITC, which has a market worth of about $21 billion, gained 11 percent in the December quarter, beating a 7.3 percent gain for the sector index but lagging a 17 percent increase for the main share index. ($1=39.3 rupees)