ITC shares rose in early deals on Thursday after the FMCG major posted a 12% rise in net profit 4,195 crore for the January-March period as compared to 3,755 crore a year ago. Kolkata-based company’s revenue from operations up 15% 17,754 crore as against 15,404 crore in the previous year period.
FMCG revenue up 12.3 per cent during the quarter 4,141.9 crore, while cigarette revenue grew 10% 6,443. Hotel business reported segment revenue 389.6 crore during the quarter, up 35.3% over a year ago.
JPMorgan Analysts Have Upgraded ITC share For the overweight with a price target of March 2023 305. “In our view, ITC provides a good combination of earnings visibility, strong cash flow and high dividend yield for FY13. We believe the stock should perform well in the current volatile markets with no under-demand valuations as a good defensive play,” the note said.
“We largely retain our FY23/24e EPS estimates. While the FMCG counterparts are coping with growth slowdown and RM pressures, ITC’s earnings are improving, with good momentum and high margin visibility across all verticals. Higher dividend payouts and lower capital expenditure are also encouraging.” 305.
Paperboard, paper and packaging stood on revenue 2,182.7 crore in the fourth quarter as against 1,655.9 crore in the same period last year, the company said, adding that the reopening of educational institutions helped the recovery but was still below pre-pandemic levels.
“As the cigarette business begins to regain market share from illicit trade, we are confident that margins in the business will improve. Therefore, we have increased our target price 293 (SOTP valuation) and upgraded the stock to Accumulate,” said brokerage Dolat Capital.
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