ITC share price today hit the most-awaited milestone of Rs 400, rising 1.25% in trade on Monday, touching an intraday high of Rs 401.7 per share. Earlier, on Thursday, ITC stock had ended at Rs 396. ITC share price has gained over 20% year-to-date, after drawing criticisms and significant trolling from investors over the years. In addition, ITC has given Rs 6 per share interim dividend so far for the last financial year, and had given Rs 11.5 per share dividend for the previous fiscal year.
On April 7, the conglomerate announced that it has divested its entire shareholding of 26% of the capital held in its JV, Espirit Hotels. Following this, Espirit is no longer a Joint Venture for the company. ITC held 4.7 crore shares in the company prior to exiting, the firm announced in a filing with the exchanges.
ITC Q4FY23 expectations
“We estimate 6.3% revenue growth for ITC led by strong 15.9% growth in the cigarette business. We estimate ~13% volume growth in cigarettes. Moreover, FMCG business is expected to see 19.1% sales growth led by strong traction in foods, discretionary & stationery categories. The Hotels segment is estimated to grow 77.8% led by post-covid pent up demand. The growth in the paperboard segment is expected to moderate given RM prices have declined & companies are taking price cuts accordingly. The segment is likely to grow 7.6% in Q4. Agri business is likely to see a 25.4% sales decline on account of export restriction on wheat. We expect 340 bps gross margin improvement & similar expansion in operating margins to 35.3%. Net profit is expected to grow 17.2% to Rs 4911.8 crore,” said ICICIdirect.
“We expect the cigarette sector to grow 16% on-year (13% volume), FMCG to grow at 14% (mid volume growth) primarily led by price growth, hotels (continued strong momentum), papers (recovery) and agri to decline on a high base. EBITDA margins are expected to expand 450 bps on account of GM expansion, better mix, operating leverage and cost savings,” said Axis Securities. For the brokerage, the key monitorables are the demand outlook on rural vs urban and competitive intensity, along with RM trends and the hotels and agricultural business outlook.
