India’s largest life insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is betting big on Gautam Adani-led Adani Group. So much so, that its investments in five Adani Group stocks – Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission – were worth Rs 73,467 crore when the markets closed on Friday last week.
As per PRIME Database, LIC’s total equity portfolio was worth Rs 10.27 lakh crore as of September 30. The value of LIC’s stake in Adani group was valued roughly at 7 per cent of its total equity portfolio.
While LIC has been increasing investment, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have trimmed stakes in five of Adani stocks in the recent quarters, data compiled by corporate database AceEquity suggests.
The three Adani Group companies in which the LIC has raised its stakes in recent quarters are Adani Enterprises, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission.
LIC’s stake in the flagship Adani Enterprises, which stood at 1.32 per cent as of June 30, 2021, jumped consecutively in the next five quarters to 4.02 per cent as of September 30. LIC owned 4,58,14,954 Adani Enterprises shares as of September 30, which at last count were valued at Rs 17,966 crore.
In the case of Adani Total Gas, LIC’s stake stood at 5.77 per cent as of September 30. It has been going up every quarter since the March quarter of 2021. LIC stake in Adani Total Gas stood at 2.11 per cent in the March quarter of 2021; by March quarter of 2022 it went up to 5.11 per cent. LIC’s total investments in the stock stood at Rs 22,706 crore as of Friday’s closing.
In case of Adani Transmission, LIC’s stake has gone up from 2.42 per cent in June quarter of 2021 to 3.46 per cent as of September 30. The stake is valued at Rs 10,600 crore.
LIC emerged as an investor in Adani Green Energy in September quarter with a 1.15 per cent stake. Companies are required to report shareholders with over 1 per cent stake. It is difficult to ascertain whether LIC held any stake in Adani Green Energy before. LIC’s stake in Adani Green Energy was worth Rs 3,760 crore as of Friday.
In the case of Adani Ports, LIC’s stake has fallen from 11.9 per cent in September quarter of 2020 to 9.82 per cent in September quarter of 2022.
LIC no longer holds over 1 per cent stake in Adani Power. It last held 1.56 per cent stake in the company as of March quarter.
While LIC has been increasing investment in Adani Group companies, many Adani stocks have seen a cut in FPI holdings. In case of Adani Enterprises, FPI holding has reduced to 15.59 per cent in September quarter from a high of 20.51 per cent in the March quarter of 2021.
In case of Adani Green, FPIs have cut holdings to 15.25 per cent in September quarter from a high of 22.78 per cent in the December quarter of 2021. In Adani Ports and SEZ, FPI holding has fallen to 14.33 per cent from a high of 17.90 per cent in the March quarter of 2021. In Adani Total Gas, FPI holding is down from 20.27 per cent (December 2020) to 17.44 per cent.
In Adani Transmission, FPI stake has fallen to 19.93 per cent from 21.05 per cent in September quarter of 2021.
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