LIC Shares Make Tepid Market Debut, List At 8.62% Discount: Live Updates

Expert View
"The 8 per cent lower debut of LIC shares is a commentary on the current state of global markets rather than the company itself. In terms of subscription, the LIC IPO was extremely successful given the fact that it was the biggest IPO of India. LIC has a solid business, trusted brand, and market leadership in an underpenetrated insurance market.LIC is a typical blue-chip company which is expected to give steady returns over a long period of time and therefore returns over a day is not relevant. It is expected to remain quite attractive for investors," said Mohit Ralhan, Managing Partner, TIW Capital Group.

Expert View
"As observed, the majority of big IPOs have not given strong listing debut gains. Considering previous trends, LIC has continued to take the same path with listing at a discount of over 8 per cent from 949 to 872 at NSE on its listing day. We believe that personal savings and awareness regarding insurance will increase enabling the sector to outperform in the long run and will indirectly benefit LIC as it is the market leader in this sector. We feel long term investors should continue to hold the scrip while short-term investors can wait to enter at a lower price," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities.

Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey on LIC's market debut
"This is a momentous event. LIC IPO is in line with the Prime Minister's vision. India is one of the most important emerging markets and it will be one of the fastest-growing economies in this decade. LIC Act was amended for the listing of IPO. Given the unprecedented size of the IPO special measures have been taken. Special drives were carried out to spread awareness for the policyholders. People enthusiastically participated and 73 lakh applications were received and possibly it is the largest in the world ever while 50 lakh demat accounts were opened since then."

As of 11:06 am, LIC shares were down 6.56 per cent at 886.75 over the issue price on the BSE index. On NSE, the stock was down 6.79 per cent at Rs 884.60.

LIC policyholders and retail investors have got the shares at a price of Rs 889 and Rs 904 apiece, respectively, after taking into account the discount offered.

As of 10:01 am, LIC shares were trading 4.85 per cent lower at 902.95 on BSE. On NSE, the stock was down 3.61 per cent, at Rs 914.75.

Tepid Debut
On BSE, shares of LIC got listed at a discount of 8.62 per cent -- at Rs 867.20 -- over the issue price of Rs 949. The stock got listed at a discount of 8.11 per cent at Rs 872 on the NSE platform.

As of 9:43 am, LIC shares were seen trading at a discount of 12.64 per cent -- at Rs 829 -- ahead of listing, BSE data showed.

Indian equity benchmarks on Tuesday traded higher in opening deals as investors awaited Life Insurance Corporation of India's (LIC's) market debut.

The proceeds from the LIC issue make up for about a third of the Rs 65,000 crore disinvestment target set for the current fiscal.

LIC is likely to see a lacklustre debut when it lists on Indian stock exchanges on Tuesday despite the $2.7 billion initial public offering being oversubscribed, analysts said.

The IPO closed with nearly 3 times subscription. LIC had last month reduced its IPO size to 3.5 per cent from 5 per cent decided earlier due to the prevailing choppy market conditions.

LIC recieved a good response from domestic investors in the initial share sale. The IPO closed on May 9 and shares were allocated to bidders on May 12. The shares will list on the BSE and NSE.