ITC’s cigarette biz loses spark

News Snapshot:

ITC Ltd at the analyst meet held in December had hinted that consolidation of its mainstay cigarette business volume is on the anvil. So, investors toned down their expectations for the December quarter (Q3FY24). But a drop in volumes was not anticipated. For perspective, estimates suggested cigarette volumes would grow by 2-3% year-on-year in Q3. In contrast, volume dropped by 2%, according to analysts' calculations. Sure, a high base (volume in Q3FY23 was up 15%) played spoilsport to some extent. ITC’s shares fell by over 2% on Tuesday. Notably, when seen on a normalized basis – four-year CAGR – volume...