New Delhi: Shares of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which has sizeable equity in Adani group companies, hit a record low of Rs 566 on the BSE on Monday. The stock, according to The Hindu Business Line, has fallen nearly 20% year-to-date.
LIC’s holdings in the Adani group have fallen under their purchase price of Rs 30,127 crore since last week. Monday’s closing price of LIC stocks – Rs 567.75 – indicates that those who bought shares in the LIC IPO have seen a 40% decrease in their share value. The issue price was Rs 949 per share in May last year.
According to the Business Standard, the biggest fall in the LIC investment value has been in Adani Total Gas and Adani Enterprises.
On January 30, LIC, in a statement it made on the brouhaha over Adani’s shares in its portfolio, said its total holding under equity and debt was “Rs 35,917.31 crores as on 31.12.2022 under Adani group of companies.” LIC claimed last month that the market value for the investment at the closing of market hours on January 27, 2023 was Rs 56,142 crore, in excess of its investments over time, making the investments profitable.
LIC had maintained that the total Assets Under Management by LIC were over Rs 41.66 lakh crore as of September 30, 2022, and LIC’s exposure in the Adani Group was as low as 0.975%.
Even before the allegations made by Hindenburg Research, LIC’s decision to buy Adani Group shares was a matter of debate about choices being made by a public-sector company to invest in the “overleveraged” Adani Group.
After the Hindenburg report ̇ was published, it triggered a widespread sale of Adani stocks. The Adani Group, on its part, has denied all allegations levelled by Hindenburg Research in a 413-page report.