Britannia Industries shares today ended over 8 per cent lower despite the company reporting 13.7 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 190.2 crore for the March quarter.

The stock settled at Rs 2,680.95, down 8.61 per cent, on the BSE. On the NSE, it went down 8.46 per cent to end the day at Rs 2,682.50.

In terms of volume, 96,000 shares of the company changed hands on the BSE and over 7.6 lakh shares were traded on the NSE during the day.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 167.3 crore in the January-March period of 2014-15.

Britannia’s net sales rose to Rs 2,189.8 crore during the same quarter of 2015-16 fiscal, up 7.8 per cent, from Rs 2,031.8 crore in the year-ago period, Britannia Industries had said in a BSE filing.

For the entire 2015-16, the company’s net profit stood at Rs 806.1 crore against Rs 688.6 crore in the preceding fiscal.

Net sales during 2015-16 grew to Rs 8,607.1 crore from Rs 7,775.1 crore a year earlier.

ITC gains over 5%

ITC shares today gained over 5 per cent, adding Rs 14,042.97 crore to its market valuation after the company reported a 5.67 per cent increase in fourth-quarter net profit and announced a bonus share issue.

The stock climbed 5.29 per cent to settle at Rs 347.40 on the BSE. During the day, it surged 7.51 per cent to Rs 354.75.

On the NSE, the scrip rose 4.99 per cent to close at Rs 346.85.

As a result, the company’s market valuation went up by Rs 14,042.97 crore to Rs 2,79,559.97 crore.

On the volume front, 21.86 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE and over 3 crore shares were traded on the NSE during the day.

The stock was the top performer among the blue-chips on both Sensex and Nifty indices during the day.

“ITC’s Q4 FY16 revenue and PAT came slightly ahead of our estimates,” Edelweiss Research said in a note.

The diversified group had on Friday reported a 5.7 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 2,495.20 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2016, amid sluggish demand environment.

The Kolkata-based company, which has announced plans to issue one bonus share for every two existing ordinary shares, had posted a net profit of Rs 2,361.18 crore in the January-March period of the 2014-15 fiscal.

Net sales rose 9.5 per cent to Rs 10,062.4 crore for the quarter under review against Rs 9,188.3 crore in the year-ago period, ITC had said in a BSE filing.

Revenues from the FMCG business, including cigarettes, increased by 8.35 per cent to Rs 7,343.3 crore in the fourth quarter of 2015-16 compared with Rs 6,777.2 crore in the same quarter of 2014-15.

During the quarter, revenue from cigarettes increased 10.2 per cent to Rs 4,639.2 crore against Rs 4,210.7 crore in the year-ago period, although it continued to be impacted by illegal trade.

Nalco hits 2-week high

Nalco shares ended higher by 3.58 per cent at Rs 41.90 on the BSE.

Earlier in the day, the stock gained as much as 7.5 per cent to its highest since May 9 as the board plans to consider buyback on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Nalco had agreed to buy back 25 per cent of its shares from government, which holds about 81 per cent.

The buyback is part of government’s efforts to raise the much-needed funds to reduce 2016/17 fiscal deficit.

Nalco shares were down about 40 per cent from their September 2014 highs amid slump in global commodity prices.

MCX gains nearly 7%

MCX shares settled with nearly 7 per cent gains today after the Reserve Bank removed the restriction imposed on overseas investors on buying equity shares in the commodity bourse.

MCX stock climbed 6.85 per cent to end the day at Rs 916.60 on the BSE. Intra-day, it touched a high of Rs 934. On the NSE, it jumped 7.39 per cent to settle at Rs 920.45.

On the volume front, 2.01 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE, while over 13.5 lakh shares traded on the NSE.

The aggregate share holdings in MCX by Foreign Institutional Investors or Registered Foreign Portfolio Investors have gone below the prescribed threshold caution limit stipulated under the extant FDI policy, RBI had said in a notification on May 20.

Hence, the restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the company are withdrawn with immediate effect, it had said.

As per data available on the BSE, public holding in the company was 99.64 per cent as of March 2016, while the rest 0.36 per cent was held by others.