ITC declines on profit taking

ITC fell 2.27% to Rs 322.90 at 14:20 IST on BSE, with the stock sliding on profit booking after recent gains.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 131.93 points or 0.52% at 25,153.44.

On BSE, so far 4.22 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 5.41 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 330.90 and a low of Rs 322.45 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 268 on 29 February 2016. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 359.75 on 26 October 2015. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 21 March 2016, surging 8.38% compared with Sensex's 6.65% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, advancing 1.43% as against Sensex's 1.75% fall.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 804.72 crore. Face value per share is Re 1.

Shares of ITC gained 4.27% in the preceding four trading sessions to settle at Rs 330.40 yesterday, 21 March 2016, from its close of Rs 316.85 on 15 March 2016.

Recent media reports suggested that a foreign brokerage has maintained its 'outperform' rating on the stock saying that most states have not hiked value added tax (VAT) on cigarettes in their Budget for the year ending 31 March 2017 (FY 2017). According to the brokerage firm, FY 2017 is likely to see one of the lowest VAT hikes on cigarettes in the past five years.

Meanwhile, ITC's executive director Sanjiv Puri was recently quoted as saying that the sales of the company's instant noodles brand Yippee have been recovering and its market share has risen to between 30% and 40% from 20% in the aftermath of Maggi noodles controversy.

ITC's net profit rose 0.7% to Rs 2652.82 crore on 3.4% growth in net sales to Rs 9102.66 crore in Q3 December 2015 over Q3 December 2014.

ITC is a diversified company, with presence in cigarettes, hotels, paperboards & specialty papers, packaging, agri-business, packaged foods & confectionery, information technology, branded apparel, personal care, stationery and other FMCG products. ITC is a market leader in cigarettes.

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