Brokerages were pessimistic on the outlook for ITC Ltd after the GST Council yesterday in an unusual move raised the cess on cigarettes, following the implementation of GST earlier this month. Several analysts downgraded their recommendation on ITC shares, which fell as much as 15% intraday, dragging the NSE Nifty down by 80-100 points in the morning trade to below 9,900 and widening the gap for the benchmark index from the milestone of 10,000 points that it has been eyeing for some time now.

Proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) has asked shareholders to vote against consumer goods giant ITC’s plan to pay a hefty salary to its chairperson Y C Deveshwar for his non-executive role. ITC shareholders would vote on the proposal to pay a monthly remuneration of Rs 1 crore in its upcoming AGM on July 28.

In a report titled “ITC succession plan: Letting it go”, released on Thursday, IiAS said it believed “the board structure, and the proposed remuneration, signal Deveshwar’s continuing control over the company, which undermines the recently appointed CEO Sanjiv Puri,” adding “Once Deveshwar has stepped down, he must let go.”

ITC has moved higher to its new high of Rs 353, up 9% in early morning trade, extending its Friday’s 4% gain on BSE, in the backdrop of implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) from July 1.

Analysts at Reliance Securities expects ITC to benefit in GST regime, as the tax outgo will remain similar to the current tax structure. That apart, the new regime also provides more clarity and uniformity in taxes across states.

By the end of September this year, India will have its first branded chocolate boutique as the Kolkata-based cigarette to FMCG major, ITC Ltd, makers of the Fabelle luxury chocolate brand, has decided to finally come up with two such boutiques in Delhi and Kolkata, outside its hotel premises.

"Spaces have been identified and will be operational sometime next quarter. The identified spaces will be our own in the current phase to ensure quality and a befitting experience for the consumer", Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive of the foods business at ITC Ltd told Business Standard.

ITC, BASF, Avanti Feeds, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Grasim Industries and Aditya Birla Nuvo from the S&P BSE 500 index hitting their respective record highs on BSE in intra-day trade on Friday.

ITC has moved higher to its new high of Rs 324, up 4% on BSE on back of heavy volumes. Till 02:44 pm; a combined 19.21 million shares have changed hands, as compared to an average sub 10 million shares that were traded daily in past two weeks on BSE and NSE.

ITC Ltd, at its forthcoming annual general meeting, will be placing before its shareholders a proposal to approve a salary of Rs 12 crore per annum to Y C Deveshwar, its non-executive chairman. This is in addition to the salary he is entitled to as non-executive director of the company.

As per the company, non-executive directors are entitled to remuneration by way of commission for each financial year, ranging between Rs 30-60 lakh.

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) said on Friday that it has been investing in cigarette maker ITC with the bonafide objective of enhancing returns for its policyholders, investors and in the interest of public welfare.

LIC, state insurers and the Centre have been dragged to the Bombay High Court because of a public interest litigation (PIL) that questioned the government's investment in ITC and other tobacco companies.

Diversified conglomerate ITC will be rolling out new product categories every quarter in perishable foods like fruits and vegetables, going forth. “There is a lot of work in process right now. Essentially, there are two vectors along which rollouts are going to happen.

First, new categories that require climate-controlled ecosystem will be launched, like fruits and vegetables. That will happen every quarter. Second, within existing categories, there would be value addition,” S Sivakumar, group head, agri and IT businesses, said.

Farming provides livelihood to about 50 per cent of the workforce in the country. The government wants to double farmers’ income by 2022. ITC is trying to help this by attracting the next generation of farmers to sustainable activities as an aggregator.

Diversified conglomerate ITC plans to provide agricultural services through its showcase project, e-Choupal, which leverages information technology to empower farmers.

ITC hit a new high of Rs 320, up 3.6% on BSE in intra-day trade, extending its Friday’s 3% gain, after reported January-March quarter (Q4FY17) earnings.

At 10:41 am; the stock was trading 3% higher at Rs 318 on BSE, as compared to a marginal 0.03% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex.