ITC Ltd 111th Annual General Meeting Insights

Key highlights from ITC Ltd (ITC) 111^th Annual General Meeting

AGM Insights:

Preface

• ITC remains affirmative and resilient about the prospects of the Indian economy and in turn remain poised to grab the emerging opportunities.
  • To this extent, ITC said it has invested in 5 new manufacturing facilities in the near term, to be commissioned in the areas of agri and food processing, packaging and others.
• ITC said that despite volatility and severe inflationary headwinds, the company reported gross revenue and EBITDA growth of 22.7% and 22% respectively in FY22.

FMCG Business

• ITC’s new FMCG businesses garnered an annual consumer spend of INR24,000 crores in FY22.
  • The portfolio is estimated to have addressable market potential of INR500,000 crores by 2030, the highest in the Indian FMCG space.
• Investments in fast-evolving spaces like mother and childcare and related acquisitions is expected to accelerate growth for ITC.
• During the last two years of the pandemic, ITC’s executions in the new FMCG business enabled a robust 25% growth in revenue.
• Cigarettes segment recovered during the year and is now ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

Agri Business

• ITC said its agri business sources over 40 lakh tonnes of agri-commodities from 22 States and 20 agri-value chains and is a leading exporter to over 95 countries across the globe.
• The company said it’s committed to contributing meaningfully in the new era of agricultural transformation.
  • ITC expects to strengthen its value added portfolio by expanding its agri initiatives through its climate smart programs and increased adoption of advanced technologies through ITCMAARS to create new and scalable revenue streams, in turn benefitting farmers.
    • ITCMAARS has now been launched in 7 States with 40,000 plus farmers grouped in 200 plus FPOs and will be progressively scaled up across the country.
  • Over time, ITC said it will engage and empower over 4,000 Farmers Producer Organisation (FPOs), thereby benefitting more than 1 crore farmers.

Paperboards, Paper & Packaging Business

• ITC anchored an extensive afforestation programme, cumulatively covering 9.5 lakh acres, supporting over 170 million person days of employment.
  • ITC is today the leading provider of Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper and paperboards in the country.
• The company achieved a robust 36% growth in segment revenue and about 55% in segment results.

Hotels Business

• ITC launched 9 hotels this year and has a healthy pipeline of new properties that will be launched over the coming few quarters. The company will shortly unveil ITC Narmada, its signature property in Ahmedabad.

ITC Infotech Business

• ITC Infotech recently acquired a substantial portion of PTC Inc’s PLM professional services business, making it the largest organization in the segment.

Sustainability

• In FY22, the company exceeded its plastic neutrality commitment, collecting and managing more than 54,000 tonnes of plastic waste across 35 States and Union Territories.
• ITC said its e-Store initiative is now operational in 15 cities, with 45 plus categories and 700 products.
  • Overall sales through e-commerce channels for ITC grew three times vs. FY20.

Climate Change Initiatives

• ITC said that about 42% of its total energy requirements today is met from renewable sources. The company added that recent investments in high pressure recovery boiler and in solar farms will also contribute to ITC achieving 50% of total energy consumption and 100% of electricity requirements from renewable sources by 2030.
• ITC is also scaling up its Biodiversity programme, which today covers over 1.3 lakh acres across 29 districts and will be progressively expanded to over 10 lakh acres by 2030.
• The company said that it’s scaling up its Climate Smart Villages initiative to 30 lakh acres by 2030, as its pilot in Madhya Pradesh showed encouraging results, with yields and net income going up by 15% and 46% respectively, while Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions reducing by 13%.
• ITC’s “More Crop per Drop” programme for demand side efficiency also continues to be scaled up, achieving up to 40% water savings across 14 crops.