FMCG major, ITC has exited its lifestyle retailing business. The decision was made after a strategic review of its business portfolio. In June this year, ITC’s chairman hinted at key changes in the lifestyle retailing business. In the company’s annual report, Sanjiv Puri had said that ITC has restructured the business during the year. On Monday, ITC shares witnessed positive sentiments and even touched a new 52-week high after its June 2022 quarterly financial performance.
On BSE, ITC shares closed at ₹309.65 apiece up by 0.68%. The company touched a new 52-week high of ₹316.65 apiece during the trading hours. The company’s market cap is around ₹3,83,194.52 crore.
In its regulatory filing today, ITC said, “following a strategic review of its business portfolio, the Company has exited the Lifestyle Retailing Business.”
ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri in the company’s annual report for FY22 dated on June 22, said, “Following a strategic review of the business portfolio a few years ago, your Company has restructured the Lifestyle Retailing Business during the year. At the same time, the product portfolio has been strengthened in alignment with new opportunities and enterprise strengths with a sharper focus on fortifying the core, addressing adjacencies through world-class mother brands, and building categories of the future to power growth.”
During Q1FY23, ITC registered a consolidated net profit of ₹4,389.76 crore, up 33.97% from ₹3,276.48 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Total revenue from operations of the FMCG major increased by 39% to ₹19,831.27 crore from ₹14,240.76 crore in the corresponding period last year. EBITDA was at ₹5,646.10 crore with a margin of 32.7% for the latest quarter. Cigarette revenues were up 29% yoy to ₹6,608 crore.
In Q1 of FY23, among segments, FMCG revenue stood at ₹4,451 crore higher by 19.5% yoy, while the revenue from hotels came in at ₹554 crore increasing 332.8% yoy. The revenue from the paper segment was at ₹2,267 crore rising by 43.2% yoy.
Puri also said in the annual report, that with enhanced scale and margin expansion, the FMCG Businesses are expected to make increasingly higher contributions to ITC’s profit pool, thereby setting the stage for further value enhancement opportunities.
ITC’s lifestyle retailing business has established a nationwide retailing presence through its Wills Lifestyle chain of exclusive specialty stores. Wills Lifestyle offers discerning customers a tempting choice of Wills Classic work wear, Wills Sport relaxed wear, Wills Clublife evening wear, and Wills Signature designer wear. Additionally, ITC also established John Players as a brand that offers a complete fashion wardrobe to the male youth of today.
Notably, as per the website, ITC’s Wills Lifestyle is available in 90 exclusive stores in 40 cities and across more than 500 ‘shop-in-shops’ in leading departmental stores and multi-brand outlets. The presence of ‘John Players’ was expanded to 350 flagship stores and 1,400 multi-brand outlets and departmental stores.
