Trying to get back to the markets..

After a long time, I am trying to get back to the markets. ITC has always been one of my favourite stocks. Over the years, ITC was always considered as an FMCG stock, called defensive bet and all that, but in the last 2 years, it has more than doubled.

ITC - The retirement stock
ITC has diversified in the FMCG sector and the percent of revenue from cigarettes has come down, a clear statement to move out of the high risk tobacco area. Also, the merger of the hotels has made this stock stronger. The recent 1:1 bonus clearly shows the long term growth of the stock. With more liquidity in the market, a good monsoon the stock will move up in the short term.

As a long term investment, I consider this to be a "retirement stock". One needs to keep buying into ITC on a regular basis. This can be considered as an "SIP stock" and hold until retirement.

The company's entry into the biscuit segment (Sunfeast) and flour (Aashirvaad) has given good returns over the last few years and both these are now a big brand by themselves. Also, the company's diversification into packaged food and the recent foray into personal care products (vivel) can only grow given the marketing and the distribution reach. The package foods is an interesting area for expansion with more disposable income and increased spend on food in the metros.