ITC share hits 52-week high, rises 15% in five sessions

ITC share hit a fresh 52-week high today after the firm said its board of directors will consider a declaration of interim dividend for the financial year 2020-21 on February 11. Share of ITC rose to an intraday high of Rs 238.8, climbing 3.83% against previous close of Rs 230 on BSE.

In five sessions, the stock has climbed 15.25% in absence of tax or duty hike on cigarettes in the Union Budget. The stock has gained 8.24% in the last 2 days.

ITC share stands higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages. The share has gained 8.17% in one year and risen 12.08% since the beginning of this year.

In a month, the stock has gained 10.76%. Later, the stock closed 1.85% higher at Rs 234.25 on BSE.

Meanwhile, ITC  is scheduled to announce its October-December quarter (Q3FY21) results on Thursday, February 11, 2021.

In Q2 of the current fiscal,  ITC Ltd on Friday posted an 18.23 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,413.44 crore for the quarter ended September.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 4,174.69 crore during the July-September quarter of the previous fiscal, ITC said in a regulatory filing.

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However, revenue from operations was up 2.17 per cent to Rs 13,147.81 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal. In the year-ago period, the same was at Rs 12,867.39 crore.

"No tax or duty increases on cigarettes is relief for cigarette companies. We have seen stable taxation on tobacco post GST implementation in the last three years with only one year tax increase (only in 2020 Budget)," ICICI Securities said in Union Budget review 2021-22.

"During the GST regime, after about 40 GST meetings, there has been no change in the tax rates for cigarettes. For ITC's FMCG business, Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin expansion is on track, and we forecast ITC would achieve and sustain a double-digit EBITDA margin over the next few quarters. The cigarette opportunity in India remains attractive given low per capita consumption," analysts at Edelweiss Securities said in an update.

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