LIC trims 2% stake in Power Grid for ₹3,079 cr; stock tumbles

Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has sold over 2% of its holding in state-owned electricity transmission company Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd in the past five months for ₹3,079.43 crore in an open market sale.

LIC, in a stock exchange filing, has said that the corporation’s shareholding in Power Grid Corporation has diluted from 36,99,02,170 to 23,01,82,028 equity shares, reducing its shareholding from 5.303% to 3.3%.

Power Grid, which is a “Maharatna” central public sector enterprise, is engaged in the planning, implementation, operation and maintenance of inter-state transmission systems, telecom and consultancy services.

On October 10, LIC said its stake in tea manufacturer The United Nilgiri Tea Estates Company Ltd has reduced from 4,81,294 to 3,80,396, from 9.632% to 7.613% of the paid-up capital of the said company.

Last month, the company said its shareholding in state-owned refiner and oil marketing major Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd had increased by over 2% from 7.030% to 9.041% from December 28, 2021, to September 9, 2022.

Besides, LIC, along with the government, has also received in-principle approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for the strategic sale of their stake in IDBI Bank. LIC holds a 49.24% stake in IDBI Bank, while the government owns a 45.48% stake. LIC aims to sell a 30.24% stake, while the government will sell 30.48% in the bank, aggregating to 60.72% of its equity share capital, along with a transfer of management control.

As of March 2022, the stock holdings of LIC in various companies, including some of the biggest like RIL, ITC, TCS, SBI and ITC, stood at ₹9.89 lakh crore, according to the data and analytics firm Primeinfobase.

Amid the development, LIC stock rose to an intra-day high of ₹617.90 today, only to settle at ₹614.20 on the BSE.

The stock, as per the Bollinger bands indicator, has turned ‘mildly bearish’ on October 12 at ₹615.4. The LIC stock is facing downward pressure since its listing in May 2022 and continues its losing streak. It fell 2.14% in the past week; 8.39% in the past month; 29.85% in the past six months and 29.85% in the year-to-date period. At the time of filing the report, the LIC shares were trading at ₹614.3, down 0.27% from the previous trading session.

The government holds a 96.5% stake in LIC, while the rest 3.5% is owned by the public.

LIC's current market cap stands at ₹3.8 lakh crore, a huge fall from ₹6 lakh crore on its listing day. Despite the government's push, LIC turned out to be one of the worst-performing initial public offerings (IPO) of this year, eroding investors’ wealth by more than ₹2.2 lakh crore so far. For Q1 FY23, LIC’s profit was ₹682.89 crore vs ₹2.94 crore in the Covid-disrupted June quarter last year. Its income was ₹1,68,881 crore vs ₹1,54,153 crore in the year-ago period.