HDFC group m-cap crosses Rs 10 trillion, second only to Tatas

NEW DELHI: Deepak Parekh-led financial services conglomerate HDFC group on Tuesday saw the market capitalisation of its listed firms cross Rs 10 lakh crore mark, making it only the second Indian business house after Tatas to achieve this feat.

HDFC group currently has four listed entities -- housing finance major HDFC Ltd, banking behemoth HDFC Bank, life insurance firm HDFC Standard Life and Gruh Finance -- while Tatas have nearly 30 firms listed on the stock exchange.

Another HDFC entity -- its mutual fund arm -- is currently in the process of launching an IPO, after which the group will have five listed firms and analysts have pegged its market capital at around Rs 30,000 crore.

At close of trade today, the market valuation of HDFC Bank stood at Rs 5,59,633.53 crore, of HDFC Ltd was Rs 3,26,776.81 crore, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Rs 95,936.72 crore and Gruh Finance Rs 24,967.71 crore on the BSE.

Tata group firms have a combined market valuation of nearly Rs 11 lakh crore. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the country's most valued firm with a market valuation of Rs 7,18,623.56 crore.

HDFC group's HDFC Bank is the country's third most valued firm in terms of market capitalisation (m-cap).

Shares of HDFC Bank rose by 1.31 per cent to close at Rs 2,149, HDFC 1.54 per cent to Rs 1,939.20, HDFC Standard Life 0.51 per cent to Rs 476.70 while Gruh Finance fell by 0.96 per cent to Rs 341.35 on the BSE.

HDFC is one of the few blue-chip companies in the country which is not run by a promoter family and is professionally-managed with a diverse institutional shareholding.

The group has also seen a very stable top management leadership, while it has prospered in a sector like real estate consistently over decades.

The top-four leaders of HDFC Ltd -- Parekh, Keki Mistry, Renu Sud Karnad and V S Rangan -- together have over 150 years of leadership experience.

While the flagship HDFC Ltd group has been in business for the last four decades, HDFC Bank has been in business for 25 years and HDFC Standard Life for 20 years. The fourth listed firm Gruh Finance is also in business for 30 years.

HDFC Ltd currently has 76 per cent FII holding which has remained in this range for many years, including in the aftermath of the Lehman crisis that saw foreign investors pulling out money across sectors. The FII holding rose to as much as 80 per cent in March 2015.