ITC Shares Hit 52-Week High After Strong Quarterly Earnings

ITC shares surged as much as 7 per cent on Friday, a day after the company surprised the Street with its earnings for the April-June period. ITC share price opened higher at Rs 300 apiece on stock exchange NSE and surged to an intraday high of Rs 307.15 during the session. That meant a nearly 7 per cent jump in ITC share price, from the previous day's close of Rs 287.20. ITC, the largest producer of cigarettes in the country, post-market hours on Thursday reported a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit for the June quarter.

At Rs 2,819 crore, ITC's net profit in the three-month period ended June 30 was higher than analysts' estimates. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of Rs 2,792 crore, according to Thomson Reuters. ITC had posted a net profit of Rs 2,561 crore for the corresponding period a year ago. ITC's revenue from operations came in at Rs 10,875 crore, as against Rs 13,800 crore in the year-ago period.

In late afternoon trade, ITC shares were the top gainer on benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty, which hit fresh record intraday highs on Friday and were on course to register new record closing highs. On the BSE, ITC shares hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 307.

ITC shares traded with huge volumes.

At 3:06 pm, ITC shares were trading 5 per cent higher at Rs 303 on the BSE. By then, more than 33 lakh ITC shares had changed hands, as against a two-week average of 9.40 lakh.