LIC clocks Rs 11,000-cr profit via equity investments

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has made a profit of Rs 11,000 crore through equity investments in 2015-16, a senior official said on Thursday.

“We saw some profit-booking opportunities during the financial year and have made a profit of Rs 11,000 crore through our equity investments in the recently concluded FY16,” Pravin Kutumbe, executive director for investment operations, LIC, told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

He said the largest domestic investor pumped in Rs 2.70 lakh crore across equity and debt markets in FY16, of which Rs 65,000 crore was in the equity segment.

The depressed markets towards the latter part of the year led to the corporation exceeding on its equity investments target of Rs 60,000 crore announced earlier, he said. He said the banking sector, where a thorough clean-up is underway, presents value buying opportunities at present.

The executive director, however, declined to give a sense of how LIC looks at the broader market.

Even in the difficult times, there are stocks which are at their 52-week high and LIC makes money by exiting in such investments, he said.

Comparable figures for the state-run company's performance in the previous financial year were, however, not immediately available.

Kutumbe said having announced a target of investing up to Rs 1.5 lakh crore to help the Railways, LIC has loaned Rs 7,000 crore to it in 2015-16 and scale it up as Railways comes up with its needs.

The money has been loaned at a coupon of 0.30 per cent over the benchmark government securities for the year, he said.

There was a 10.82 per cent correction in the 30-share benchmark of the BSE in FY16. It opened the year at 28,260 points and closed at 25,341 points, making it a not-so-happy year due to the volatilities.

It touched a high of 29,094 points on April 15, 2015 and passed through choppy waters towards the latter part of the fiscal, which led to it registering a year's low of 22,494 points on February 29.