LIC’s market capitalisation plunges by Rs 1.7 lakh crore from issue
Life Insurance Corporation’s stock crashed on Monday to below Rs 675 per share, tracking the broader equity benchmarks’ plunge on raging global inflation and expectations of aggressive tightening from the Federal Reserve weighing on investor sentiment.
The insurance giant’s shares slumped to a new all-time intra-day low of Rs 673 and were last trading at Rs 673.70, down over 5 per cent from Friday’s record low close of 709.70.
While the government on Friday said it is “concerned” about the temporary blip in LIC’s scrip and that the insurer’s management will look into these aspects and raise shareholders’ value, the stock is down 29 per cent from its issue price of Rs 949 per share.
“We are very concerned about the temporary blip in LIC share price. People will take time to understand (the fundamentals of) LIC. LIC management will look into all these aspects and raise the shareholders’ value,” DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said on Friday.
LIC shares were listed on the stock exchanges on May 17 at Rs 872, a deep discount from their issue price.
Since its flop debut on the stock exchanges, the scrip has closed in the green for just four trading sessions and has remained below the issue price, touching a new low of ₹ 672.90 today and a high of Rs 920 a few days after its listing.
The country’s biggest insurer and the largest domestic financial investor’s market capitalisation (m-cap) fell to Rs 4.3 lakh crore on Monday. In less than one month of its listing, Rs 1.7 lakh crore has been wiped out. At the issue price of Rs 949, the company’s m-cap stood slightly over Rs 6 lakh crore.
