ITC has moved higher to its fresh 52-week high of Rs 365.15, up 2% on the BSE, ahead of 1:2 bonus issue. The stock will turn ex-bonus on Friday, July 1, 2016.

The board of directors of the company at its meeting held on May 20, 2016, had recommended the issue of bonus shares in the proportion of 1 (one) bonus share of Rs 1 each for every existing 2 (two) fully paid-up ordinary shares of Rs 1 each.

ITC Ltd. said it has been advocating compulsory licensing of all cigarette-making units irrespective of size, and increase in customs duty on imported cigarettes to rates fixed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"Your company continues to make representations to policy-makers recommending compulsory licensing of all cigarette manufacturing units irrespective of size, increase in customs duty on imported cigarettes to WTO bound rate levels," said ITC, India's largest cigarette maker, in its Annual Report.

ITC Ltd, using its wide distribution network, is working on two sales strategies with an aim to expand its packaged food business.

In a bid to widen its product offerings in the mass-market segment, the tobacco-to-hotels conglomerate is launching products that are relevant to a particular town, state or community with a potential to grow it nationwide over time.

ITC is trading higher by 1% at Rs 355 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the stock turned ex-dividend for Rs 8.50 per share on Monday.

The board of directors of ITC at its meeting held on May 20, 2016, recommended dividend of Rs 8.50 (including special dividend of Rs 2) per ordinary share of Re 1 each for the financial year ended March 31, 2016.

ITC has rallied 7.5% to Rs 355 in early morning trade, extending its Friday’s 1.5% gain on the BSE after reporting a better-than-expected performance for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 (Q4FY16).

The stock is currently trading near its 52-week high of Rs 360, touched on October 26, 2015 during intra-day trades.

Cigarettes-to-hotel major ITC on Friday reported a 5.67% year-on-year rise in its standalone net profit to R2495.20 crore for the quarter ending March 31, 2016, from R2361.18 crore for the year-ago period as higher taxes and regulatory pressures impacted its cigarettes business and weak demand conditions prevailed in FMCG industry.

Beating street expectations, the Kolkata-based conglomerate posted 9.5% y-o-y growth in net sales at R10062.38 crore in the March quarter last fiscal as against R9188.25 crore during the corresponding period previous fiscal.

Consumer goods conglomerate ITC will be setting up eight new integrated food processing units by 2019, with investments in excess of Rs 4,000 crore. The planned investments are a part of its long-term plan to invest Rs 25,000 crore, majority of which will be allocated towards its food business, V L Rajesh, divisional chief executive, ITC Ltd said.

The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major has already acquired land for the proposed plants in states like West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. An integrated plan at Kapurthala in Punjab, which currently produces various items like Atta and fruit juice, has been set up with Rs 1,400 crore of investment.

Indian conglomerate ITC will soon be expanding its super-premium chocolate segment with luxury brand Fabelle, which will be sold at the company's luxury hotels.

The manufacturing of the chocolates will be done at the company's unit in Bengaluru. The assorted chocolates will be sold at Rs 1,000 each on an average.

ITC is shifting its headquarters of Rs 8,000-crore agri-business division, currently at Hyderabad, to Guntur, along with a plan to expand into new commodities, including food-safe spices and millets.

"We are planning to build half-a-million square foot of residential and office space to locate the headquarters of the agri-business division here. The spending may be around Rs 200 crore," ITC chairman Y C Deveshwar said on Friday. He was here for the foundation-laying for the company's My Fortune hotel here. The 144-room hotel is being built at an investment of Rs 145 crore. The company proposes to start operations in the new hotel in 2019.

After halting tobacco production for 15 days following a new ministerial directive calling for covering 85 per cent of the cigarette package area with health warning, cigarettes to FMCG company ITC will soon resume production of cigarettes, the company said.

In a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange, the company said the decision follows a ‘High Court order passed in favour of the company’ whereby it will “soon resume manufacture of cigarettes in its factories”.

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