Cigarettes-to-hotel major ITC is working on using agility, technology, and cost reduction measures to ride over the impact of the COVID-19 crisis that has hit the economy severely. The last few months have been tough for certain businesses in the non-essentials space.
"During the first quarter, the nationwide lockdowns particularly impacted your Company's performance in the Hotels, Cigarettes, Education and Stationery Products (ESPB), Paperboards & Packaging businesses. However, it is encouraging that the FMCG-others segment delivered comparable revenue growth of 19 percent," said Sanjiv Puri, Chairman and MD, ITC at the company's annual general meeting.
A huge part of the revenue growth came from staples, convenience foods and health and hygiene products. For instance, the manufacture of ITC's hygiene products like Savlon sanitisers was ramped up by 275 times to cater to the surge in demand. ITC was also able to launch 40 new products amid the lockdown.
"The current spate of localised lockdowns is impacting the recovery momentum. The near-term outlook remains uncertain as consumer trends and industry dynamics constantly evolve in the backdrop of the yet unfolding impact of the pandemic and shape of economic recovery. Your Company shall continue to closely monitor the situation and respond with agility to strengthen its market standing while sharply focusing on cost reduction measures, " added Puri at ITC's 109th AGM.
For companies to survive in this new normal, they would have to reimagine the future. ITC has broken this up into three phases - survival, reboot and next normal. Despite short term challenges, ITC is confident about focusing on top strategic priorities to create a larger value for stakeholders.
