Cigarette stocks fall sharply; ITC drops 5 per cent

Mumbai: Shares of cigarette companies such as ITC and Godfrey Phillips fell sharply on November 25 amid reports the government has accepted an expert panel's recommendation to ban the sale of loose cigarettes.

Intra-day, shares of ITC plunged 6.89 per cent to Rs 348.60 on concerns that cigarette sales will take hit if these proposals are implemented. ITC closed 4.99 per cent down at Rs 355.70 at the BSE and was the top loser among the 30-Sensex blue-chips. Shares of Godfrey Phillips India slumped 8.90 per cent to settle at Rs 2,965.95.

Golden Tobacco scrip plunged 7.61 per cent to Rs 37.05 and shares of VST Industries was down 0.56 per cent to Rs 1,859 apiece. "Among day's major market moving events, ITC was down by more than 5.2 per cent intra-day after the government today accepted the recommendation of ban of loose cigarettes in the country," said Hiren Dhakan, Associate Fund manager, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd.

After various tax hikes, this is one concrete measures to reduce the consumption of cigarettes, especially by the weaker sections of the society, he added. The panel has also suggested increasing the minimum age for those who can buy tobacco products and has proposed a bigger fine for violation of provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, reports said. Meanwhile, in the broader market the BSE benchmark Sensex ended at 28,338.05, down 161.49 points.