Credit Suisse maintains ‘Outperform’ on ITC; target price at Rs 360

NEW DELHI: Credit Suisse maintains ‘ outperform’ rating on ITC with a target price of Rs 360 per share, the brokerage firm said in a report.

At 10:30 a.m.; ITC was trading 0.5 per cent lower at Rs 332.35. It hit a low of Rs 331.50 and a high of Rs 334.50 in trade today.

For the quarter ended March 2013, ITC posted a robust 19.4 per cent YoY growth in its net profit to Rs 1,928cr, in-line with estimates.

The cigarette division posted a strong 20.2 per cent improvement in its EBIT, while Cigarette volumes rose by 2.5 per cent on a YoY basis.

The brokerage says that ITC’s cigarette volumes have seen no disruption post the steep 15 per cent price hike taken in April.

This is very positive as they expected a 4 per cent decline in the first quarter of the price increase, given that it is a steep hike for a second consecutive year.

Credit Suisse is expecting ITC’s FMCG business to deliver profits in FY14 and Paper business growth will pick up as capacity ramps up.