Godrej Properties, Amber Enterprises hit 52-week lows; LIC at life-time low

LIC hit a life-time low of Rs 562.35, falling below its previous low of Rs 566 touched on February 27, and was down 9% in three weeks.

Shares of Godrej Properties, Amber Enterprises India, Avanti Feeds, CESC, IFB Industries, Motilal Oswal Financial Services and Nippon Life India Asset Management Company hit their respective 52-week lows on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade as domestic markets remained under pressure amid the US Federal Reserve’s rate hike and comments from the US Treasury Secretary.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) (down 1 per cent at Rs 562.35) and Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC (down 3 per cent at Rs 346.30) hit their respective life-time lows on the BSE in intra-day trade today.

Shares of Asset Management Companies (AMCs) were also under pressure, falling by up to 5 per cent on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade on report that the government has proposed to tax gains arising from debt mutual funds (MFs) at the investor's slab rate, irrespective of the investment period. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT

Shares of LIC fell below its previous low of Rs 566 touched on February 27. In past three weeks, the stock has shed 9 per cent as state-owned company’s premiums contracted 32 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in February on account of a drop in its group single premium segment.

Overall, analysts at Emkay Global Financial Services expect the industry to report decent growth in March 2023, particularly private players, on continued prebooking of high-ticket, non-linked saving products. Against this backdrop, the brokerage expect the industry retail APE to register 14-15 per cent growth for FY23E, with the private sector growing in high teens and LIC delivering ~10 per cent growth. “Overall, we expect life-insurance stocks to remain range-bound in the near term, supported by valuations amid the current uncertain environment, with the effect of such changes being visible & measurable by H2FY24,” analysts said in sector update.

Household appliances companies, IFB Industries and Amber Enterprises India hit 52-week lows as consumer discretionary companies witnessed demand headwinds amid high inflation, inventory de-stocking and unfavourable base of last year.

Market demand was significantly reduced post the Diwali month in October 2022. Demand fell in November and December 2Q22 and customer off-take was low across product categories. However, the pressure on input commodity material costs lowered in Q3. Going forward, analysts believe the EBITDA margin will see further recovery from Q4 onwards supported by improved operating leverage and easing inflationary pressure on raw material prices.