Four of the seven largest stock investments made by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) during the April-June quarter are trading with losses since the beginning of July. LIC’s largest investments during the previous quarter include Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Adani Enterprises, Tech Mahindra, Union Bank, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Consumer Products, and Lupin, data sourced by brokerage and research firm Kotak Institutional Equities showed. Overall, LIC hiked stake in 15 companies, some of which may have been fresh additions to LIC’s large portfolio. LIC is the largest state-owned insurer in India.
Union Bank
LIC owns a 5.06% stake in Union Bank of India, according to the shareholding pattern available on BSE’s website. Since the beginning of the July-September quarter, Union Bank’s share price has slipped 9.86% to now trade at Rs 34.75 per share. The value of LIC’s stake in the bank is just over Rs 1,200 crore at yesterday’s closing price. According to Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE), the total value of the investment made by LIC stood at Rs 1,223 crore.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
LIC’s investment in Dr Reddy’s is valued at around Rs 1,984 crore, according to KIE. Since the beginning of the quarter, Dr Reddy’s share price has tanked 13.63%, with the majority of the losses coming in the last week of July. The PSU firm owns a 2.3% stake in Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which is valued at Rs 1,821.75 crore at yesterday’s closing price.
Adani Enterprises
Adani Group stocks had a great run on the bourses till the first of June, since then the stock has been trading rather flat. LIC purchased a 1.3% stake in the Gautam Adani Group company during the previous quarter, pumping in Rs 1,816 crore, according to KIE. Since the end of June, the stock has fallen more than 4%.
Lupin
Another pharma company that LIC invested in during the previous quarter was Lupin. LIC has increased its stake in Lupin, up from 5.03% in the January-March quarter to 6.99% in the April-June quarter. Lupin’s share price has tanked 15.5% since the end of the previous quarter, of which most of the losses have been recorded in the current month. The value of LIC’s stake in Lupin at the current market price stands at Rs 3,081 crore.
LIC’s other investments during the quarter include Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Endurance Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Torrent Power, Tata Chemicals, Abbott India, Aurobindo Pharma, Prestige Estate products, among others. The price at which LIC has acquired an individual stake in each of the companies is not known.
