ITC Dethrones HUL To Become No. 1 Consumer Stock

(Bloomberg) -- Asia’s largest cigarette maker ITC Ltd. is set to reclaim its position as India’s most valuable fast-moving consumer goods stock after ousting Hindustan Unilever Ltd. from the spot.

ITC, which primarily makes money by selling cigarettes but also holds interests in hotels, paper and consumer staples industries, saw its valuation jump above 6.1 trillion rupees ($74 billion) for the first time ever on an intraday basis Monday, surpassing Hindustan Unilever’s 6.09 trillion rupees. The cigarette maker has rallied more than 70% in the last 12 months to outperform all other Nifty 50 stocks.

Investors’ preference for ITC over Hindustan Unilever is due to the outlook for earnings. While HUL continues to suffer from an anemic post—pandemic recovery in rural Indian sales, ITC’s diversified business interests helped boost its earnings per share by about 30% in the year ended March.

“ITC will definitely outperform HUL in the near-term,” said Sachin Bobade, vice president - consumer sector at Dolat Capital Market Ltd. “There is still juice left in ITC mainly because its cigarette business has no major headwind.”  

ITC’s market capitalization last surpassed HUL’s four years ago.

--With assistance from Ashutosh Joshi.

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