Budget Hopes Give Lic Housing The Leg-Up

LIC Housing Finance (LICHF), the second largest housing finance major, today remained in the limelight on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), hitting a new 52-week high at Rs 70. The stock, however, settled lower at Rs 68.50, up 2.31 per cent over the pervious close. The rally on the counter was due to the consistent performance by LICHF and also on expectation of sops in the forthcoming Union Budget.

Analysts said there were also hopes that the government would allocate more funds towards infrastructure and rural development, which would, in turn, help the finance company. There are a number of expectations from the Budget, which would help LICHF. There are expectations of taxation on housing perks being removed.

Over 1.76 lakh shares changed hands on the counter. In the last 25 trading sessions, the stock has risen close to 60 per cent from Rs 43 on January 10, to Rs 68.50 today. The volumes touched a high of 2.32 lakh shares on January 22, from a low 3,676 shares on January 10.

LICHFL is promoted by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) with equity participation from UTI, ICICI and IFCI. LIC and National Housing Bank (NHB) have been its major sources of finance. It has floated various schemes for group housing loans targeted towards the development authorities, builders, developers, and organisations