The shares of ITC and ITC hotels are in focus after American-based GQG Partners (Listed in Australia) plans to raise its stake again in the companies. In this article, we will dive deep into the details.
With a market capitalization of Rs 5,25,656 crores, the shares of ITC Ltd are currently trading at Rs 420 per share, down by 16 percent from its 52-week high of Rs 500 per share. Over the last five years, the stock has delivered a return of 110 percent.
GQG Partners, globally recognized for boldly betting against the market with a contrarian investment in the Adani Group, is once again doubling down on its interest in ITC and its hospitality business, ITC Hotels.
According to sources, GQG plans to increase its stake in ITC to similar levels it holds in British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International. GQG currently has equity investments of around Rs 60,000 crore in companies in India and has consecutively purchased shares of ITC, including partially offloaded shares by British American Tobacco, to increase its stake to 5.5%. Furthermore, GQG acquired 1.84% of ITC Hotels shares for Rs 811 crore in the March 2024 quarter, thus expressing their bullish approach to the group.
These investments are part of GQG’s 13-stock India portfolio; the portfolio has 8 companies from the Adani and ITC groups. Additionally, GQG held some of the companies included in the same portfolio as JSW Energy, Patanjali Foods, GMR Airports, Macrotech Developers, and IDFC First Bank, etc. which demonstrate diversification of the high-conviction India bets.
Financial Highlights
The company reported a revenue of Rs 75,323 crores in FY25, up by 6.28 percent from its FY24 revenue of Rs 70,866 crores. It reported a net profit growth of 69 percent to Rs 35,052 crores in FY25 from Rs 20,751 crores in FY24.
The stock has delivered an ROE and ROCE of 27.48 and 36.98 percent respectively, and is currently trading at a P/E of 26.48x as compared to its industry average of 26.48x.
ITC Ltd is a diversified Indian conglomerate with businesses across FMCG, hotels, paperboards and packaging, agri-business, and IT. Its product range includes cigarettes, snacks, biscuits, beverages, personal care items, stationery, safety matches, and incense.
ITC Hotels got demerged successfully on 1 January 2025 and made its debut on the stock exchange on 29 January 2025, where ITC Ltd will be keeping a 40 percent stake in the company and the rest is given to its shareholders.
Written by Satyajeet Mukherjee
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