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ITC's 2nd-Quarter Profit Increases 13%; Shares Fall (Update2) 

ITC Ltd., India's biggest tobacco maker, which also owns hotels and trades in farm produce, posted a 13 percent rise in profit, matching analyst estimates. Shares fell as earnings from the agriculture business were hurt by a ban on some exports and an appreciating rupee.

Net income rose to 7.71 billion rupees ($195 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 6.8 billion rupees a year earlier, the Kolkata-based company said today in an e-mailed release. That compares with the 7.56 billion rupee median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The decline in profit at ITC's agriculture trading business may be a setback for the company, which is trying to reduce dependence on tobacco

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