ITC Q2 FY27 Results: Cigarette Tax, Profit Decline and FMCG Growth, Explained

ITC approved its results for the quarter ended 30 September 2026 at a board meeting on 2 November 2026. Profit fell. Revenue rose. The size of the profit drop depends on which line a desk printed, and the cigarette tax that took effect on 1 February 2026 is the reason the company and the reports give.

The Economic Times, in its stocks-in-news note updated at about 6:00 AM IST on 3 November 2026, said consolidated net profit fell 18.5 percent to Rs 4,229 crore, from Rs 5,187 crore. Business Standard (Ishita Ayan Dutt, last updated 3 November 2026, 12:05 AM IST) said consolidated net profit attributable to owners fell 18.7 percent to Rs 4,168.40 crore, from Rs 5,126.11 crore. The Hindu BusinessLine (updated 2 November 2026, 9:57 PM IST) reported a third figure, and it is standalone: net profit down about 20 percent to Rs 4,137.12 crore, from Rs 5,175.70 crore.

A quick note: this is an explainer, not investment or financial advice.

The 60-second version

• Two consolidated profit prints. The Economic Times: Rs 4,229 crore, down 18.5 percent. Business Standard, profit attributable to owners: Rs 4,168.40 crore, down 18.7 percent. ITC's own consolidated filing shows both: profit for the period Rs 4,229.33 crore (from Rs 5,186.55 crore) and profit attributable to owners Rs 4,168.40 crore (from Rs 5,126.11 crore).
• Standalone is a third number. The Hindu BusinessLine: Rs 4,137.12 crore, from Rs 5,175.70 crore.
• Revenue depends on the base. The Economic Times: consolidated net revenue Rs 20,454 crore, up 5 percent from Rs 19,455 crore. Business Standard: consolidated net revenue Rs 20,269 crore, up 3.9 percent. The Hindu BusinessLine: standalone revenue from operations Rs 28,317.67 crore, up 45.65 percent from Rs 19,441.50 crore.
• Why profit fell. A sharp drop in cigarette earnings. Business Standard said this is the second consecutive quarter hit by higher cigarette taxes effective 1 February 2026.
• What grew. Non-cigarette FMCG revenue growth at a 14-quarter high. Agri and paper also grew. Paper includes the Century Pulp and Paper acquisition completed on 1 August 2026.
• Estimates. Business Standard said revenue and profit marginally beat a Bloomberg consensus of about Rs 20,111 crore and about Rs 4,136 crore.
• The stock. The Economic Times and Mint said ITC is likely to be in focus on Tuesday, 3 November. This piece does not carry a Tuesday traded price. Check the exchange.

Why the profit headlines do not match

The points of disagreement are the profit line and the legal entity, not a dispute about whether earnings fell.

Source	What it measures	Profit	Revenue
The Economic Times	Consolidated net profit and net revenue	Rs 4,229 crore, down 18.5% from Rs 5,187 crore	Rs 20,454 crore, up 5% from Rs 19,455 crore
Business Standard	Consolidated profit attributable to owners, and net revenue	Rs 4,168.40 crore, down 18.7% from Rs 5,126.11 crore	Rs 20,269 crore, up 3.9%
The Hindu BusinessLine	Standalone net profit and revenue from operations	Rs 4,137.12 crore, down about 20% from Rs 5,175.70 crore	Rs 28,317.67 crore, up 45.65% from Rs 19,441.50 crore
ITC consolidated filing	Profit for the period, and profit attributable to owners	Rs 4,229.33 crore (period) and Rs 4,168.40 crore (owners), against Rs 5,186.55 crore and Rs 5,126.11 crore	Revenue from operations Rs 30,578.40 crore, against Rs 21,255.86 crore. Excise duty Rs 10,309.77 crore, against Rs 1,754.23 crore

The Economic Times figure matches the filing's profit for the period, rounded: Rs 4,229.33 crore against Rs 5,186.55 crore. Business Standard matches the next line in the same statement, profit attributable to owners of the parent, at Rs 4,168.40 crore against Rs 5,126.11 crore. The filing puts the difference in non-controlling interests at Rs 60.93 crore this quarter, against Rs 60.44 crore a year earlier.

The Hindu BusinessLine's Rs 4,137.12 crore is standalone profit for ITC Ltd, from Rs 5,175.70 crore in Q2 FY26. It is not a third estimate of the consolidated number.

On revenue, the same split applies. Business Standard's Rs 20,269 crore of consolidated net revenue sits next to the filing's revenue from operations of Rs 30,578.40 crore minus excise duty of Rs 10,309.77 crore, which is Rs 20,268.63 crore. The Economic Times printed a nearby but different net revenue, Rs 20,454 crore against Rs 19,455 crore. The Hindu BusinessLine's 45.65 percent rise is standalone revenue from operations, Rs 28,317.67 crore against Rs 19,441.50 crore.

Read the 45.65 percent next to the excise line. It uses a different base from the net revenue prints. In the consolidated filing, excise duty rose from Rs 1,754.23 crore to Rs 10,309.77 crore. Revenue from operations rose from Rs 21,255.86 crore to Rs 30,578.40 crore. The excise increase, Rs 8,555.54 crore, accounts for most of that Rs 9,322.54 crore increase in consolidated gross revenue.

Business Standard also reported the quarter against the June quarter, on its net figures: revenues up 6 percent from Rs 19,114 crore in Q1 FY27, and net profit down 5.1 percent from the preceding quarter. The consolidated filing puts the preceding quarter's profit attributable to owners at Rs 4,394.13 crore.

Business Standard said both revenue and profit marginally exceeded Bloomberg consensus estimates of about Rs 20,111 crore and about Rs 4,136 crore.

What the cigarette tax change did

Business Standard reported the tax changes that took effect on 1 February 2026. GST on cigarettes moved from 28 percent of transaction value to 40 percent of retail sale price. Excise duty was raised sharply after the compensation cess was phased out. The paper said this is the second consecutive quarter in which those higher taxes have weighed on ITC's bottom line.

The profit hit is large on every statement that prints a cigarette result. The revenue line moves the other way, because the higher tax sits inside reported sales.

Business Standard, consolidated segment. Cigarette pre-tax profit was Rs 4,044.49 crore, down 26 percent year on year. Sequentially it rose 7.3 percent from Rs 3,769.11 crore in the June quarter.

The Hindu BusinessLine, from the stock exchange filing. Standalone cigarette revenue rose 78.11 percent to Rs 15,536.13 crore. Operating profit fell 27.23 percent to Rs 3,813.45 crore.

ITC's media statement of 2 November 2026 said legal industry volumes remained under pressure because of the tax increase. The company said it used a calibrated response so that volumes would not shift disproportionately to illicit trade, and that it re-architected the portfolio with new variants and its own trademarks aimed at global smuggled brands. It also said enforcement agencies have seized more smuggled cigarette consignments, which it read as a sign that the wider tax gap is being used by unscrupulous players. The statement said cigarette performance improved quarter on quarter. The 7.3 percent sequential rise in pre-tax profit is the Business Standard figure that matches that claim. The year-on-year profit comparison is still down.

FMCG grew at a 14-quarter high

The offset was real, and it was not large enough to hold group profit flat.

ITC said FMCG revenue growth was at a 14-quarter high, and that consolidated FMCG revenue rose 19 percent year on year. Like-to-like growth was 17.3 percent, and 23 percent excluding atta, the company said. It also said this was the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth in the non-cigarette FMCG business.

Business Standard's consolidated segment print is the more precise revenue and profit pair:

• Non-cigarette FMCG revenue Rs 7,218.36 crore, up 19.1 percent.
• Pre-tax profit Rs 576.69 crore, up 31.4 percent.

The categories behind that, in both the company statement and Business Standard: biscuits, snacks, noodles, spices, salt, frozen snacks, homecare and notebooks grew more than 20 percent. Dairy and personal wash grew in the high teens. The company said the digital-first and organic portfolio grew more than 70 percent, with annualised revenue above Rs 1,800 crore, and that general trade rebounded.

The Hindu BusinessLine's standalone FMCG print is lower, because it is a different statement:

• Revenue Rs 6,967.17 crore, up 15.67 percent.
• Operating profit Rs 558.30 crore, up 27.80 percent.
• Segment EBITDA margin expanded by over 50 basis points year on year and quarter on quarter. ITC's statement uses the same margin line.

The Hindu BusinessLine also said overall EBITDA fell 17.4 percent to Rs 5,160 crore, from Rs 6,250 crore, while EBITDA of the non-cigarette businesses grew 23 percent. ITC said sharp input-cost increases were met with mix, cost work and calibrated pricing, and that crude-linked inputs, freight and supply-chain disruption stayed elevated.

Agri, paper and fresh food

Agri. ITC said segment revenue grew 12 percent, led by value-added agri products and leaf tobacco exports. Business Standard put consolidated agri revenue at Rs 4,550.60 crore, up 12.7 percent, and pre-tax profit at Rs 518.41 crore, up 14.3 percent. The Hindu BusinessLine's standalone figures were revenue of Rs 4,451.69 crore, up 11.96 percent, and operating profit of Rs 510.67 crore, up 11.23 percent.

The constraint is the same in every report. ITC said the West Asia conflict delayed customer call-offs, constrained shipping and raised ocean freight, and that new-market work was stepped up. It also said weaker domestic cigarette demand is still affecting the leaf tobacco business.

Paper. ITC said the segment sustained a strong recovery and that the Century Pulp and Paper undertaking at Lalkuan, Uttarakhand, was acquired on 1 August 2026. The company put segment revenue up 36 percent year on year, or 10 percent like-to-like, and segment profit before interest and tax up 48 percent, or 52 percent like-to-like, with the margin up 320 basis points.

Business Standard's consolidated paper figures: revenue Rs 3,017.45 crore, up 35.9 percent, and pre-tax profit Rs 273.32 crore, up 50.7 percent. The Hindu BusinessLine's standalone figures: revenue Rs 3,015.85 crore, up 35.85 percent, operating profit Rs 281.93 crore, up 47.59 percent, and segment profit before interest and tax up 48 percent.

ITC said wood prices stayed high because the harvest was weaker than expected and competing industries were buying, and that prices are expected to moderate. It said the minimum import price on virgin multi-layer paperboard has been extended to 31 March 2027.

Fresh food. ITC said gross merchandise value grew 53 percent year on year, annualised revenue crossed Rs 320 crore, and the platform now has more than 80 cloud kitchens. Seven kitchens opened in the quarter.

On the wider economy, ITC said domestic demand stayed resilient in rural and urban markets. It flagged deficient and uneven monsoons, lower reservoir levels and strengthening El Nino conditions as risks to farm output and inflation, and listed geopolitical developments, climate, inflation and consumer sentiment as the monitorables.

What to watch next

1. Tuesday's trade in the stock. The Economic Times, in its 3 November stocks-in-news note, and Mint both said ITC is likely to be in focus after the results. This article does not report a Tuesday open or last price. Check the NSE or BSE quote before treating any figure as live.
2. Whether the cigarette sequential improvement holds. Business Standard put cigarette pre-tax profit up 7.3 percent from the June quarter, and ITC said quarter-on-quarter performance improved. Year-on-year, the same profit is still down sharply, and the company said legal volumes remain under pressure.
3. The tax gap and illicit trade. ITC said seizures of smuggled cigarettes have risen. That is the company's reading of enforcement data, and it is the risk it said the calibrated pricing was meant to limit.
4. Whether the 14-quarter-high FMCG growth lasts while crude-linked inputs and freight stay elevated, which is the cost backdrop ITC described.
5. Agri freight and the paper like-to-like number. West Asia disruptions are still in the agri commentary. In paper, the headline growth includes Century Pulp and Paper from 1 August 2026. The company's like-to-like revenue growth is 10 percent, against 36 percent reported.

The profit decline is the cigarette tax showing up in earnings. The 18.5 percent and 18.7 percent headlines are two lines of the same consolidated statement. The standalone 45.65 percent revenue rise is a third base, and the excise line in the consolidated filing is the context for it.

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This article is for information only and is not investment, financial or tax advice. The consolidated net profit of Rs 4,229 crore, the 18.5 percent decline, and consolidated net revenue of Rs 20,454 crore are from The Economic Times stocks-in-news note updated about 6:00 AM IST on 3 November 2026. The attributable profit of Rs 4,168.40 crore, the 18.7 percent decline, net revenue of Rs 20,269 crore, the Bloomberg comparison, the sequential comparison, the cigarette tax description, and the consolidated segment revenue and pre-tax profit figures are from Business Standard (Ishita Ayan Dutt, last updated 3 November 2026, 12:05 AM IST). Standalone profit, standalone revenue from operations, EBITDA, and standalone segment operating figures are from The Hindu BusinessLine (updated 2 November 2026, 9:57 PM IST). The board date, the like-to-like FMCG and paper figures, the Century Pulp and Paper completion date, fresh-food GMV, the cloud-kitchen count and the macro commentary are from ITC's media statement of 2 November 2026. Profit for the period, profit attributable to owners, revenue from operations, excise duty and the preceding-quarter attributable profit are from ITC's unaudited consolidated results for the quarter ended 30 September 2026. Mint reported that the shares were likely to be in focus on 3 November. No Tuesday traded price is reported here. Check the exchange.