ITC TO INVEST ₹20,000 CRORE IN MEDIUM TERM: CMD SANJIV PURI

The cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate ITC Ltd will be investing ₹20,000 crore in the medium term across businesses, Chairman and MD Sanjiv Puri announced. He was addressing the shareholders during the company’s Annual General Meeting on Friday. “Our confidence in the India story is unwavering and is reflected in your company’s investment outlay of about ₹20,000 crore in the medium term,” he said.

Puri added that the investment will be aimed at enhancing the structural competitiveness position of its various businesses to tap into the emerging opportunities in the market. "This is despite headwinds," he said.

To strengthen its fast-moving consumer goods (FMGC) portfolio, the company will launch nearly 100 new products, focused on evolving segments of health and nutrition, hygiene, protection and care, convenience, on-the-go, and indulgence, among others.

“Sustained margin expansion was driven by premiumisation, delayering of operations, agile cost management and operating leverage. This led to an average margin expansion of 100 bps per annum over the last seven years. ITC’s FMCG products now reach 250 million households with consumer spends of ₹32,500 crore,” Puri added.

ITC's hotels and cigarette businesses have seen a smart recovery post the pandemic, Puri said. The revenue and results of the cigarette business over the last 2 years grew at a CAGR of nearly 13.5% with volumes surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

On the hotel business, Puri said it emerged structurally stronger clocking a revenue of nearly ₹3,000 crore and EBITDA crossing the ₹1,000 crore mark in FY24 after a period of sustained headwinds. 32 hotels have been opened in the last 24 months, taking the total to nearly 140 hotels. Segment ROCE of hotels rose by nearly 1,100 bps over the pre-COVID period as part of its asset right strategy.

He further said analysts project India's per capita GDP is likely to touch the "inflexion point" of $4,000 by 2030, fuelling larger domestic consumption and driving higher growth

Experts predict that India is likely to contribute 18% to the world's GDP growth in the next five years and could even touch 30% between 2035 and 2040, he said.

Also Read: ITC's Sanjiv Puri calls India an 'inspiring lighthouse of growth' amid turbulent times

2024-07-26T10:38:49Z dg43tfdfdgfd