ITC charts growth strategy as cigarette tax hike hits stock

ITC CMD Sanjiv Puri addressed the 115th AGM, noting the stock has fallen from a 52-week high of Rs 426.5 in October to a low of Rs 275 in June, closing at Rs 281.4 on Thursday, following cigarette tax hikes since February. The company is pursuing calibrated pricing and portfolio innovation to counter illicit trade, while continuing to diversify into FMCG where revenue has grown from about Rs 10,000 crore in 2017 to around Rs 24,000 crore currently, targeting 80-100 bps annual EBITDA margin improvement. ITC has earmarked Rs 20,000 crore for capex over the next five years and has not ruled out a future IPO of ITC Infotech.