Cigarettes to hotel major ITC entered the consumer products business in 2007. In three years, it has managed to corner a two per cent market share.
Marriott-Starwood, Carlson Rezidor and others are winning the tug-of-war for customers with local hotel chains as they add new properties at a breakneck speed.
As reservations plunge, hotels are boosting their banqueting and restaurant business to make up for losses.
To take the Rs 49,000 crore ITC to the top slot in the highly competitive FMCG business will require some aggression.
Once heavily dependent on the cigarettes segment, corporate behemoth ITC has diversified over the past two decades into many businesses that now generates 58 per cent of its revenue. Sanjiv Puri, chief executive officer, ITC, shares his plans with Arnab Dutta.
International hoteliers operating in the country through sales agreements with Indian hotels can expect some relief after the Delhi High Court ruled on January 30 that income paid by the Indian partner to its foreign counterpart is exempt from tax since it cannot be considered royalty or technical fees. The ruling in favour of US-based Sheraton International Inc was in response to an appeal filed by the Income Tax Department challenging the service agreement.
The centre of excellence, a non-profit joint venture between tobacco-to-hotels major ITC and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), is working on a rating system for companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes. The first exercise of its kind in India, the idea is to incentivise CSR programmes to strengthen companies' ability to bargain for tax breaks and create a better image with consumers and stakeholders.
The Hotel Association of India has come up with elaborate security guidelines for big and small properties.
Analysts suggest making separate firms of tobacco, hotels and FMCG divisions
Given the expectations of growth in the packaged foods segment, the company seeks to become a Rs 1-trillion FMCG business by FY30.
Price cuts post the November GST rate rationalisation helped improve volume growth for HUL, what pegged back sales for ITC is adverse social media rumours against Aashirvaad atta, its single-largest FMCG brand.
More than six hotel chains are looking at either building properties or expanding their presence in these states. ITC's WelcomHeritage brand, for instance, is scouting for properties in Nagaland and Kaziranga, Assam. The hotel, however, is already there in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya.
V B Kunal Singh, 45, is in the middle of the crossfire between packaged foods majors Pepsico and ITC. But this time the small-time snacks seller in Mumbai, much like others in his trade, is enjoying himself.
Finalises blueprint to become pan-Indian dairy player; to set up plants in 6 states.
Leading five-star hotels in the country are taking their signature restaurants to cities across the country, thanks to their success and popularity. Taj Hotels and Palaces in Mumbai will open its signature Japanese restaurant, Wasabi by Morimoto, in Delhi by early next year.
ITC, the cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate, has recorded a 26 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 1,009 crore in the quarter ended September 30, from Rs 802 crore in the same period last year, led by revenue growth in almost all its businesses, except hotels. Net income grew 18 per cent to Rs 4,345 crore, up from Rs 3,682 crore in the same quarter last year.
While the company does not report segment results for the foods business until a specific vertical reaches a threshold limit, its entire FMCG business during the last financial year has reported revenues of Rs 2,523 crore. The food segment, which is still in the investment mode, crossed the Rs 1,000 crore revenue mark in FY 08 and is losing on an average close to Rs 60 crore on a yearly basis, accumulated losses of Rs 700 crore over the past seven years.
HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank remained among the top mutual fund (MF) buys for the second consecutive month in September. MFs deployed a net of Rs 15,000 crore into these stocks during the two-month period (August-September), revealed Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research reports.
It also asked why the data shared pertained to a period from April 2019 even though the scheme for anonymous political funding was introduced in 2017.
The cigarettes segment had a revenue of Rs 4,554.21 crore during the second quarter of the current fiscal, as against Rs 8,528.47 crore in the year-ago period, down 46.56 per cent.
A senior woman officer with Vodafone company in Chennai was on Wednesday found dead in a swimming pool of a five-star hotel in suburban Andheri, the police said.
From steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal to billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal's Airtel, Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, and a lesser-known Future Gaming and Hotel Services were among the prominent buyers of the now-scrapped electoral bonds for making political donations.
'On the set, Ranveer and I got along really well. Ten days after the release, Ranveer messaged me and said, you have killed the scene! For someone like him to message me just says how supportive person he is of newcomers.'
During the quarter, revenue from cigarettes increased 10.17 per cent to Rs 4,639.17 crore.
Fans wearing the India jersey, carrying the Indian flag, laughing, joking and anticipating an India win are moving towards the Narendra Modi stadium. There are families, friends, children, adults, teenagers, middle aged and the senior citizen who have all painted the city blue.
Future Gaming and Hotel Services whose director is the lottery magnate Santiago Martin is the top purchaser of electoral bonds having purchased bonds worth Rs 1,368, according to data uploaded by the Election Commission of India on its website on Thursday.
The Jharkhand cricket team, including their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on Friday escaped unhurt after a fire broke out at a five star hotel in Dwarka, New Delhi leading to postponement of the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final against Bengal.
With luxury hospitality chains competing to offer intangibles like the best sleep in town and the purest air to breathe, a 'pure room' is one of the latest innovations to be marketed - as one enabling guests to sleep better and breathe fresher, by keeping allergens at bay!
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to roll out a new regulatory framework for registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) - the market intermediaries responsible for the record-keeping of bondholders and shareholders after a company offers securities to the public. The markets regulator, sources said, is considering a multifold increase in net-worth requirement, a move that may dissuade companies from having in-house RTAs for record-keeping. At present, the minimum net worth required for RTAs is Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh in categories I and II, respectively.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday described the electoral bonds scheme as a 'very big scam' and demanded that a special investigation team (SIT) be set up with court-appointed officials to probe the alleged quid pro quo and wrongdoings under it.
Revenue of the Kolkata-headquartered firm from its cigarettes business climbed 18.76 per cent.
Chetan Sharma's position as chairman of national selection committee has become untenable after his alleged outburst during a sting operation by a TV news channel.
'With Ramaland, the tourism department is looking to attract children and adults alike. It'll be learning with entertainment.'
Glimpses from Jaya Bhardwaj and Deepak Chahar's reception in Delhi.
Broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indces slipping 0.8%-1.1%
Intimate getaways offered in the form of homestays by hotels are proving to be the flavour of this extraordinary and difficult time. Not far from cities, they offer a pleasant respite from homebound lives, says Pavan Lall.
