煙草在線據(jù)彭博社報(bào)道編譯　　印度最大的煙草公司ITC公司報(bào)告，在其提高卷煙價(jià)格致使其最大的業(yè)務(wù)需求銳減之后，其銷售增長(zhǎng)的速度減緩至4年來(lái)的最低點(diǎn)。公司的股票也下跌了。

　　10月24日，總部位于印度加爾各答的ITC公司說(shuō)，在截止9月底的3個(gè)月中，ITC公司的凈銷售增長(zhǎng)8.8%，達(dá)到778億盧比（13億美元）。這是自截止2009年6月底的季度以來(lái)銷售增幅最小的一個(gè)季度，并且未能達(dá)到彭博公司編寫(xiě)的由31名分析師預(yù)估的中間值811億盧比。

　　今年9月，ITC公司將一些卷煙品牌的價(jià)格提高了10%之多，使得第二季度的凈收入增加了21%。據(jù)ICICI Direct公司的分析師Sanjay Manyal說(shuō)，從長(zhǎng)期來(lái)看，該公司通過(guò)對(duì)最暢銷的產(chǎn)品提價(jià)來(lái)提高利潤(rùn)的戰(zhàn)略的發(fā)展是不可持續(xù)的，因?yàn)殇N售增速減緩顯示，該公司正在以“令人擔(dān)憂”的速度失去吸煙者。

　　在孟買(mǎi)工作的Sanjay Manyal在接受電話采訪時(shí)說(shuō)：“銷售增長(zhǎng)減緩幾乎在所有的產(chǎn)品部門(mén)都很明顯。”在上個(gè)季度，卷煙銷量可能至少下降了7%。他說(shuō)：“這次卷煙銷量的下滑，可能是大約5年來(lái)下滑幅度最大的一次。”

　　10月24日，ITC的股票在孟買(mǎi)下跌了0.8%，跌至340.05盧比。該公司股票今年已經(jīng)上漲了19%，而基準(zhǔn)指數(shù)S&P BSE Sensex則上漲了6.5%。

　　利潤(rùn)攀升

　　經(jīng)營(yíng)從肥皂到賓館業(yè)務(wù)的財(cái)團(tuán)ITC說(shuō)，公司截止9月底的這個(gè)季度的凈收入從上年同期的184億盧比增長(zhǎng)至223億盧比。與之相比，彭博公司編寫(xiě)的由31名分析師預(yù)估的中間值為212億盧比。

　　Sanjay Manyal說(shuō)，卷煙總銷售比一年前增長(zhǎng)了11%。在過(guò)去一年里，ITC公司將自己的卷煙價(jià)格平均提高了18%，以抵償政府征收的較高的消費(fèi)稅。

　　Microsec資本公司在加爾各答工作的分析師Naveen Vyas在接受采訪時(shí)說(shuō)，由于再三提價(jià)，一些吸食ITC公司的Gold Flake和Classic Milds牌卷煙的消費(fèi)者要么轉(zhuǎn)向了其競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手生產(chǎn)的更為便宜的產(chǎn)品，要么代之以被稱為比迪煙或嚼煙的印度手卷煙。

　　ITC公司賓館業(yè)務(wù)的稅前利潤(rùn)下降了43%，減少至8720萬(wàn)盧比。ITC公司說(shuō)：“一方面，餐飲業(yè)繼續(xù)受到主要國(guó)際客源市場(chǎng)和印度普遍疲軟的經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況的負(fù)面影響，同時(shí)，在印度的一些主要城市供應(yīng)的住處大大增加的情況，也給餐飲業(yè)帶來(lái)了消極影響。”

　　Motilal Oswal證券公司的分析師Rakesh Tarway通過(guò)電子郵件發(fā)表評(píng)論說(shuō)：“扣除卷煙業(yè)務(wù)的利稅前的收益頗豐，達(dá)到65%。在未來(lái)的數(shù)個(gè)季度中，卷煙銷量的任何增長(zhǎng)都會(huì)給卷煙業(yè)務(wù)帶來(lái)巨額的息稅前利潤(rùn)增長(zhǎng)。”

India: ITC Sales Growth Slows to 4-Year Low on Higher Cigarette Prices

　　ITC Ltd. (ITC), India's biggest tobacco company, posted the slowest pace of sales growth in four years after an increase in the price of its cigarettes damped demand at its biggest business. Shares fell.

　　Net sales rose 8.8 percent to 77.8 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) in the three months ended September, the Kolkata-based company said yesterday. That was the smallest jump since the quarter ended June 2009 and missed the 81.1 billion-rupee median of 31 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

　　ITC raised prices of some brands of cigarettes by as much as 10 percent in September, helping lift net income 21 percent in the second quarter. The company's strategy of boosting its profits by charging more for its best-selling products is not sustainable in the long term as the slowing growth suggests the company is losing smokers at a rate "that's a cause for concern," according to Sanjay Manyal, an analyst at ICICI Direct.

　　"Slower sales growth is very much visible in almost all the segments," Mumbai-based Manyal said in a phone interview. Volume of cigarette sales likely fell by at least 7 percent in the last quarter, he said. "This could well be the sharpest drop in cigarette volumes in about 5 years."

　　ITC fell 0.8 percent to 340.05 rupees in Mumbai yesterday. The stock has climbed 19 percent this year, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex has gained 6.5 percent.

　　Profit Jumps

　　Net income rose to 22.3 billion rupees in the quarter from 18.4 billion rupees a year earlier, the soaps-to-hotels conglomerate said. That compared with the 21.2 billion-rupee median of 31 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

　　Cigarette gross sales grew 11 percent from a year earlier. In the past one year, ITC raised prices of its cigarettes by an average 18 percent to compensate for higher excise taxes levied by the government, Manyal said.

　　As a result of these repeated price increases, some consumers smoking its Gold Flake and Classic Milds cigarettes are either switching to cheaper products made by rivals, or substitutes like hand-rolled Indian cigarettes called bidis or chewing tobacco, Naveen Vyas, Kolkata-based analyst at Microsec Capital Ltd. said in an interview.

　　Profit before tax at its hotels business fell 43 percent to 87.2 million rupees. "The hospitality sector continued to be adversely impacted by the weak economic conditions prevailing in major international source markets and India on the one hand, and significant additions to room supplies in key Indian cities," ITC said.

　　Earnings before interest and tax "margin for cigarette business came at a hefty 65 percent," Rakesh Tarway, an analyst at Motilal Oswal Securities Ltd., said in e-mailed comments. "Any volume growth in cigarettes during the coming quarters will bring in huge EBIT growth for the cigarettes business." Enditem