The ITC share price fell 2 percent in the opening trade on October 28 after the company posted its second quarter earnings.
Cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate on October 27 declared its results for the second quarter ending September 30, 2021.
It has reported a standalone post-tax profit of Rs 3,697 crore for the quarter, increasing 14 percent from Rs 3,253 crore reported in the same quarter last year and 23 percent from Rs 3,013 crore posted in the June quarter.
The standalone revenues came in higher at Rs 13,553 crore for the quarter, an increase of 12 percent, compared to Rs 12,103 crore reported in the September 2020 quarter and by 5 percent from Rs 12,959 crore reported in the June quarter this year.
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Here is what brokerages have to say about the stock and the company after its September quarter earnings:
Jefferies
The brokerage house has kept the ‘buy’ call with a target at Rs 300 per share.
The cigarette volumes were a bit lower which was offset by better margin, while exit volumes are close to pre-COVID level, which is a positive.
The FMCG wing has slowed down, partially due to the base issue, while paperboard continued to see strong on-year growth. However, budget is a key event, given an expert panel deciding on tobacco taxation.
Morgan Stanley
The research firm has retained ‘overweight’ with a target at Rs 251 per share as earnings were marginally ahead of the estimates.
The cigarettes business topline was weaker than expected and in FMCG business, the topline growth is well below the expectations.
Prabhudas Lilladher
ITC is focusing on innovations and distribution expansion across FMCG and cigarettes which should bode well in the coming years.
The near-term outlook seems mixed with improved outlook in cigarettes, strong growth and margin outlook in paperboard, rising occupancy and EBIDTA positive in hotels and steady leaf tobacco prices and benefits of currency depreciation.
It maintained ‘buy’ with an SOTP-based target price of Rs 270.
Sharekhan
Strong earnings visibility with improving growth prospects of the core cigarettes business, margin expansion in the non-cigarette FMCG business, and high cash-generation ability with strong dividend payout will reduce the valuation gap in the coming years, it said.
The brokerage maintained ‘buy’ recommendation on the stock with an unchanged price target of Rs 280.
At 9:17am, ITC was quoting at Rs 234.75, down Rs 3.65, or 1.53 percent on the BSE.
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