ITC shares today gained over 5 per cent, adding Rs 14,042.97 crore to its market valuation after the company reported a 5.67 per cent increase in fourth-quarter net profit and announced a bonus share issue.
The stock climbed 5.29 per cent to settle at Rs 347.40 on BSE. During the day, it surged 7.51 per cent to Rs 354.75.
On NSE, the scrip rose 4.99 per cent to close at Rs 346.85.
As a result, the company's market valuation went up by Rs 14,042.97 crore to Rs 2,79,559.97 crore.
On the volume front, 21.86 lakh shares changed hands at BSE and over 3 crore shares were traded at NSE during the day.
The stock was the top performer among the blue-chips on both Sensex and Nifty indices during the day.
"ITC's Q4 FY16 revenue and PAT came slightly ahead of our estimates," Edelweiss Research said in a note.
The diversified group ITC on Friday reported a 5.7 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 2,495.20 crore for the fourth quarter ended March, 2015-16, amid sluggish demand environment.
The Kolkata-based company, which has announced plans to issue one bonus share for every two existing ordinary shares, had posted a net profit of Rs 2,361.18 crore in the January-March period of the 2014-15 fiscal.
Net sales rose 9.5 per cent to Rs 10,062.4 crore for the quarter under review as against Rs 9,188.3 crore in the year-ago period, ITC had said in a BSE filing.
Revenue from the total FMCG business, including cigarettes, increased by 8.35 per cent to Rs 7,343.3 crore in the fourth quarter of 2015-16 compared with Rs 6,777.2 crore in the same quarter of 2014-15.
During the quarter, revenue from cigarettes increased 10.2 per cent to Rs 4,639.2 crore as against Rs 4,210.7 crore in the year-ago period, although it continued to be impacted by illegal trade.
