Mutual funds sell full stake in Ricoh

Even foreign portfolio investors have cut stake: Their holding in Ricoh fell from 0.4% in March quarter to 0.31% at the end of June quarter

Mutual funds have sold their entire 2.52 per cent stake in Ricoh India, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational imaging and electronics firm Ricoh Co, in the past three months.

Mutual funds sold entire one million shares during the April-June quarter. IDFC Premier Equity Fund held 1.88 per cent as of March, and has no stake in the company at the end of the June quarter, according to the latest shareholding pattern data filed by Ricoh India.

Foreign portfolio investors also pared their stake during the quarter. Their holding in the company has reduced from 0.4 per cent in the March quarter to 0.31 per cent at the end of the June quarter.

Retail (small) investors, however, increased their stake on every fall, with their holding in the company at four-year high. Individual investors’ stake increased from 18.1 per cent in March to 21.89 per cent in June.

On Monday, the stock closed at Rs 198 on the BSE, falling 65 per cent from Rs 569 since March 18, after the exchange informed that the stock will be shifted from B group to Z group on the BSE from March 28, due to non-compliance for two consecutive quarters, that is, September and December quarters for Clause 41 of the erstwhile Listing Agreement.

The BSE suspended trading in the shares of Ricoh India from May 26, after the company failed to report financial results for the past two quarters.

The trading in the shares is allowed on trade-for-trade basis in the Z group only, on the first trading day of every week for six months. Trades in Z group shares are settled on trade-for-trade basis, which means that only delivery-based buying or selling is permitted.