ITC extends rally on good Q4 results, bonus sharesb

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.

ITC had declared a bonus issue of one share for every two shares held while announcing its March quarter results last week. That apart, it has declared a final dividend of Rs 8.5 per share (including a special dividend of Rs 2 per share) for the current fiscal.

ITC posted 5.7% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in net profit at Rs 2,495 crore, on back of 9.5% YoY jump in net sales in Q4FY16. The operating profit margin (OPM) improved by 210 basis point YoY to 36.3%.

Analysts, on an average, had expected profit of Rs 2,480 crore on net sales of Rs 9,778 crore for the quarter.

Improvement in performance during the quarter driven by improved realization, margin expansion, benign input costs and favorable base effect, ITC said in a statement.

At 09:38 am, the stock was trading 5.4% higher at Rs 348 on the BSE. A combined 1.04 million shares changed hands on the counter on the BSE and NSE.

ITC Limited