Street signs: LIC pares holdings in PSBs

Shares of Religare Enterprises have gained 40% in the past fortnight after the financial services firm announced major changes to its board and management

India’s largest institutional investor Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) slashed its holdings in several public sector banks (PSBs) including State Bank of India (SBI) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) during the September quarter. In SBI, the stake has reduced by 231 basis points (bps), while in BoB it fell by 274 bps. Surprisingly, the sell-off came ahead of the bank recapitalisation announcement by the government, following which shares of PSBs skyrocketed by as much as 30 per cent. Market observers say the selling could be partly to create leg-room to participate in the fundraising plans of some of the banks.

 

Pavan Burugula

Religare rallies on turnaround hopes 

Shares of Religare Enterprises have gained 40 per cent in the past fortnight after the financial services firm announced major changes to its board and management. In a bid to stem the slide in its fortunes, promoter Malvinder Singh had stepped down on November 14 as non-executive chairman and the board appointed S Lakshminarayanan as executive chairman. Promoter brothers Malvinder and  Shivinder Singh would continue as non-executive directors, handing over the control to a professional management. Sources said the former Ranbaxy promoters are also keen to infuse more capital in the company, which has seen value erosion of close to 80 per cent in the past year. 

Samie Modak

Modest grey market premium for IPOs

Shares of hospital chain operator Shalby and logistics firm Future Supply Chain Solutions are changing hands at a modest premium between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in the grey market. The two initial public offerings (IPOs), probably the last for calendar 2017, open next week. “The grey market premium of Shalby and Future Supply Chain has come off due to the fall in the secondary market. The prices in the unofficial market are highly volatile. Hence, those who take cues from the grey market before applying need to be careful,” said a broker.

 

Samie Modak