LIC Housing Finance slips nearly 8% post block deal

According to reports, Fidelity Management has likely sold stake in the company.

Shares of LIC Housing Finance tumbled as much as 7.56 per cent to Rs 428.35 apiece on the NSE in the opening deals on Thursday after reports suggested 3.9 crore shares, representing 7.7 per cent of equity, were traded in a block deal at Rs 431 per share. 

At 09:32 am, the stock was trading around 7 per cent lower at Rs 431.35 apiece on the NSE. In comparison, the benchmark Nifty50 index was trading at 10,872 levels, down 47 points or 0.43 per cent. 

According to a report by CNBC-TV18, Fidelity Management has likely sold stake in the company. The stake sale amounts to Rs 1,261 crore. The name of the buyers were not ascertained immediately.

Earlier, it was reported that some marquee investors were likely to sell about 6.7 per cent shares of LIC Housing Finance. According to the shareholding pattern available on the BSE, Fidelity Investment Trust held 3.41 per cent in the housing finance company as on June 30, 2019 while Bank of Muscat India Fund and Government Pension Fund Global held 2.28 per cent and 1.83 per cent, respectively.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2019 (Q1FY19), LIC Housing Finance posted a 7.39 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 609.13 crore while total revenue from operations rose to Rs 4,815.57 crore for the first quarter as against Rs 4,068.93 crore. 

"The business environment continued to be quite challenging. However, despite that, the company's outstanding loan book grew consistently, especially on the home loan segment," LIC Housing Finance MD & CEO Siddhartha Mohanty had said.

At the bourses, LIC Housing Finance has underperformed the market by falling over 5 per cent year-to-date (YTD) whereas the S&P BSE Sensex has gained nearly 3 per cent.