Life Insurance Corporation of India slashed its shares in publicly traded firms to a record down in the third quarter of the current fiscal as the nation’s top institutional investor witnessed gains.
However, data compiled by Prime Database shows that the shareholding of India’s biggest insurer drooped to an all-time low of 3.67 percent of the market equity of all publicly traded firms at the end of December from 3.69 percent in the September quarter.
LIC’s shareholding in these firms was at a record rise of 5 percent in June 2012. The shareholding data comprises 278 companies where LIC’s stake surpasses 1 percent. In terms of value, LIC’s holdings in these firms were Rs 9.53 lakh crore at the end of December, a boost of 1.46 percent from the last quarter.
Pranav Haldea, managing director of Prime Database Group, said that Profit-booking is the primary reason behind LIC decreasing its stake in the companies. He also noted, “LIC continues to command the lion’s share of investments in equities among insurance companies, with a 77 percent share.”
The biggest growth in LIC’s holdings, in terms of percentage, in the December quarter were in Power Grid Corporation of India, Dredging Corporation of India, Computer Age Management Services, Coforge, Deepak Nitrite, JSW Energy, Endurance Technologies, SBI Cards & Payment Services, PI Industries and Laurus Labs.
The 10 firms in which the insurer sold the maximum stake were IRB Infrastructure Developers, ABB India, Hindustan Motors, Sterlite Technologies, Hindustan Aeronautics, Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing, Central Bank of India, Steel Authority of India, KEC International and Bharat Bijlee.
However, the data indicated that the equity holdings of all insurance companies decreased to a six-year low of 4.79 percent on December 31 from 4.81 percent a quarter ago. The Sensex and the Nifty indices plunged by 1.48 and 1.5 percent, respectively, during this period, the Prime Database report noted.
