VST Industries in focus, rallies 11% after June quarter numbers

The company's net profit rose 0.04 per cent YoY to Rs 75.71 crore for the quarter under review.

Shares of VST Industries rallied as much as 11 per cent to Rs 3,595 apiece on the BSE on Tuesday, a day after the company reported its June quarter numbers for the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21). 

The company's net profit rose 0.04 per cent to Rs 75.71 crore for the quarter under review as against Rs 75.68 crore logged during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The company's sales, however, declined 19.4 per cent to Rs 245.39 crore as against Rs 304.45 crore in the year-ago quarter. 

In a separate filing to exchanges on the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the company's business operations, VST Industries said that the business operations were adversely impacted in the form of disrupted supply chain and decline in consumer demand. "Since mid-May 2020, while the manufacturing operations have gradually started returning to normalcy, we estimate the pandemic to continue having its impact on sales," it said in the press release. 

Analysts with ICICI Securities note that VST Industries reported resilient sales despite manufacturing, supply chain as well as retails selling points remaining closed for nearly 40 days. Further, the company has a wide presence at lower price point cigarettes. With a continuous increase in taxes & duties, the consumer market now has been largely concentrated at 64 & 69 mm cigarettes, which is likely to aid the company, the brokerage said.

Additionally, "the gap between ITC & VST’s (at lower end) prices led to market share gains for the latter and the possibility

of curbs on illicit cigarettes due to supply disruptions could also help drive volume growth for the company," it said in a result review note. 

The brokerage maintains its positive stance on the stock with the target price of Rs 4,450/share and BUY recommendation.