ITC Cigarette

Dec 4 (Reuters) - British American Tobacco is looking to offload its stake in India's ITC Hotels, it said on Thursday, through an accelerated bookbuild process

ITC shares have underperformed the market by falling 5 per cent in the past one month, as against a 2.2 per cent rise in the Nifty 50.

Brokerages were unanimous that the non-cigarette FMCG business remains a bright spot in ITC's portfolio.

The maker of 'Sunfeast' biscuits and 'Gold Flake' cigarettes reported a 5.4% rise in standalone profit of ₹5,180 crore ($589.34 million) for the quarter ended September 30

Emkay retained an 'Add' rating on ITC with a target price of ₹475, noting that the stock offers decent upside potential

ITC's stock rose as much as 1.98 per cent after it reported a multifold increase in its profit for the fourth quarter

According to media reports, the Indian government could consider raising GST on cigarettes and other tobacco products to 40 per cent once levy of compensation cess on cigarettes is stopped

Analysts and investors will keep an eye out for management's commentary on FMCG, cigarette business growth outlook

ITC's consolidated profit for the period came in at Rs 5,054.4 crore, up 1.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), from Rs 4,964.5 crore in the same quarter a year ago (Q2FY24).

Sharekhan believes that ITC is entering a phase of consistent earnings growth trajectory

On the bourses, ITC stock has rallied 14.1 per cent over the past month. The stock hit an all-time high of Rs 510.60 on July 24, 2024. This was the first instance of ITC stock crossing Rs 500-mark.

At 9:17 AM, ITC shares were trading nearly 0.50 per cent lower at Rs 439.45 per share. In comparison, S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.14 per cent at 75,309.65 levels

The sale of 437 million ordinary shares in ITC through a block trade, will cut the Dunhill cigarette maker's shareholding to about 25.5% from about 29%

Puri told Business Standard in a recent conversation that the company would increasingly try to go outside India

As we prepare to welcome 2024, ITC has metamorphosed from a tobacco giant into a conglomerate straddling multiple large-sized businesses

ITC was quoting at its lowest level since May 23, 2023 and has declined nearly 15% from its record high level of Rs 499.60 touched on July 24.

ITC shares have corrected 10 per cent from their record high level of Rs 499.6, hit on July 24, 2023, as investors booked profit post the hotel business' demerger announcement

Some investors may have preferred a vertical split (100 per cent direct). This move will not likely have a big implication for ITC's share price, wrote analysts at Jefferies in a note

FPIs increased their stake in ITC to 14.51 per cent at the end of the June quarter, up from 14.21 per cent seen at the end of March quarter

Analysts raised their cigarette volumes growth estimate for FY24E considering market share gains from illicit cigarettes as well as strong growth in high price cigarettes.