BSE-listed cos promoters' pledged shares value falls 10 pc

The value of shares pledged by promoters of BSE-listed companies reached over Rs 2.72 lakh crore in January, a decline of 10 per cent from the preceding month, according to exchange data.
The value of pledged shares stood at Rs 3.03 lakh crore in December-end. It was at Rs 2.78 lakh crore, Rs 2.81 lakh crore and Rs 2.6 lakh crore at the end of November, October, and September, respectively.
Till January this year, pledging of shares by promoters was seen in as many as 2,991 out of 5,040 BSE-listed companies with a market capitalisation of over Rs 153 lakh crore.

Share pledging is typically done by promoters to raise funds either for the same company or for financing other projects.
Decline in the level of share pledging may indicate scaling down in stress as high pledging levels are not considered a good sign by investors as a downturn in the market price can lead to invocation and change in management.
According to BSE data, promoters of 453 companies pledged up to 30 per cent of their respective holdings to the tune of Rs 1.49 lakh crore, while 139 firms saw 30-50 per cent of the promoters' holding worth Rs 51,124 crore being pledged in January.

Further, there were 80-odd companies in which 50-75 per cent of the promoter-holding worth Rs 34,479 crore was pledged.