ICICI lowers Kingfisher stake to 2.9%

ICICI Bank's stake in the troubled air carrier Kingfisher Airlines has come down sharply to 2.9 per cent, from more than five per cent at the end of 2011.

As per the latest shareholding pattern filed by Kingfisher with the stock exchanges on Wednesday, ICICI Bank held about 1.67 crore (16.7 million) shares, accounting for a 2.9 per cent stake, in the airline as on March 31, 2012.

In contrast, ICICI Bank held 2.63 crore shares, or 5.3 per cent stake, in Kingfisher as on December 31, 2011.

While the details of sale of shares by ICICI Bank could not be ascertained, the latest list of Kingfisher shareholders includes two new entities -- LKB Finance (1.38 per cent) and SHCIL Services Ltd (1.04 per cent).

At the current market price, the shares estimated to be sold by ICICI Bank during the quarter would be worth about Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million).

Kingfisher shares have been seeing huge selling pressure for many months now.

The stock slipped 2.2 per cent in Wednesday's trade at the BSE and closed at Rs 15.70.

Earlier in the day, the shares hit their all-time low level of Rs 13, before recovering some ground.

The company has lost about two-third of its market value in the past one year.

The shares were trading above Rs 47 level a year ago on April 26, 2011.

The promoters currently hold little over half of the company (50.2 per cent stake), but more than 90

per cent of their holding is pledged with various lenders.

As per a mid-quarter shareholding pattern disclosed by the company on February 8, ICICI Bank's stake in Kingfisher stood at 3.02 per cent at that time.

Besides ICICI Bank, state-run banking major Punjab National Bank is also believed to have lowered its stake in Kingfisher.

While PNB held 1.14 per cent stake in Kingfisher at the end of 2011, but its name does not figure among the shareholders owning more than one per cent equity in the company at the end of January-March 2012 quarter.

The listed companies are required to disclose the names of all their shareholders owning more than one per cent stake at the end of every quarter.

Among other shareholders, SBI's holding stood at 4.89 per cent as on March 31, 2012 -- which is unchanged from the level on February 8, 2012, but down from 5.68 per cent as on December 31, 2011.

While the total number of shares held by SBI did not change between December 31, 2011 and February 8, 2012, their percentage holding declined due to increase in Kingfisher's total equity base.

The other banks among Kingfisher's shareholders at the end of March included IDBI Bank (3.02 per cent), Bank of India (1.51 per cent) and Uco Bank (1.21 per cent).