Shares of ITC continued gaining streak for the third straight session on Thursday, with the share price of the FMCG major hitting a fresh all-time high of ₹489.10 in intraday trade whereas its market capitalisation crossed ₹6 lakh crore for the first time. The market valuation of the cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate increased by ₹1 lakh crore in just three months as the stock rallied nearly 23% during the same period amid earnings optimism. The stock has given the highest return among all 30 constituents of the BSE Sensex in the last 12 months, at 65.8%, compared to the Sensex’s rise of 22.8%, thanks to robust financial performance in FY23.
Early today, ITC shares opened marginally higher at ₹479.05 against the previous closing price of ₹478.85 on the BSE. The FMCG heavyweight, however, gained momentum and rose as much as 2.1% to touch a new record high of ₹489.10 on the back of strong volume trade. As many as 26 lakh shares changed hands over the counter on the BSE compared to the two-week average volume of 3 lakh stocks, while the market capitalisation climbed to ₹6.07 lakh crore.
With this, the FMCG major has become the 7th BSE-listed company to touch the ₹6 lakh crore m-cap mark and joined the league of biggies like Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever, and Infosys.
At the current price level, ITC shares trade 67% higher than its 52-week low of ₹293.4 touched on July 20, 2022. The counter has outperformed BSE benchmark index Sensex in terms of returns in the last year and year-to-date (YTD). The large cap stock has gained 65.8% in a year and 47.3% in the calendar year 2023, compared with a 22.8% and 10.5% rise in the Sensex during the same period. In the last three months, ITC share price has added 22.5% compared to a 12.9% rise in the 30-share barometer Sensex, whereas the FMCG major gained 7.7% in a month versus a 6.5% rise in the BSE benchmark.
In the past 12 months, ITC has declared a total dividend of ₹15.50 per share, including the interim dividend of ₹6 per share. In the fourth quarter, the company board recommended a final dividend of ₹6.75 and a special dividend of ₹2.75 per equity share. At the current share price, the dividend yield stands at 3.17%.
For the full financial year 2023, the cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate reported a net profit of ₹18,753 crore, up 24.5% from ₹15,058 crore in FY22. The net revenue jumped 17.4% to ₹65,427 crore in FY23 versus ₹55,724 crore in the previous fiscal. Segment-wise, the cigarette business registered a 20.6% growth in revenue to ₹17,927 crore in FY23.
For the quarter ended March 30, 2023, ITC reported a 23% year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit at ₹5,175 crore as against ₹4,195 crore profit in the year-ago quarter and ₹5,006 crore profit in the December quarter. Revenue from operations grew 5% year-on-year to ₹19,058 crore during the fourth quarter compared with ₹17,754 crore in the corresponding period last year.
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