Promoters make hay as markets boom

With the stock market rally pushing market values of listed companies in multiples, India Inc is cashing on the opportunity by offloading their shares and foreign investors are lapping them up.

During the quarter ended December 31, the promoters were seen diluting their stake in a large number of companies, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) upped the ante in by raising their exposure in most of the cases.

Among the 32 companies that have so far disclosed their shareholding patterns for the October-December quarter, just one saw promoter holdings going up, as against 11 others seeing a dip in the percentage shares held by the promoters.

At the same time, FIIs raised their stakes in as many as 15 companies, but cut down exposure in just three companies.

The companies where promoters cut down their holdings, but FIIs raised their exposure in the last quarter include GMR Infrastructure, Burnpur Cement, eClerx Services, Edelweiss Capital, Kaushalya Infra, Kolte Patil Developers, Manaksia, Renaissance Jewellery and Transformer and Rectifiers.

According to an analysis of change in shareholding patterns in the 32 companies that have disclosed their latest shareholding pattern, the promoters sold shares worth about over one billion dollars, while FIIs made a net purchase of about half this amount in the shares of these companies during the quarter ended December 31, 2007.

Promoters of GMR Infrastructure are estimated to have sold shares worth more than Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion), while FIIs brought shares worth about Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion) during the quarter.

Companies like Gokaldas Exports, Mahindra Lifespace, Jyothy Lab and Genesys International also saw fresh purchases by FIIs, although promoter holdings were unchanged.

While most of these firms saw promoters diluting their stakes through public issues, promoters of companies like GMR Infrastructure did so in the secondary market and brokers expect much more such market transactions to come to the fore as more companies disclose their latest shareholding patterns.

The marketmen said that the trend would become even clearer as more companies disclose their shareholding patterns for the latest quarter in the days to come. The promoters are believed to have made billions of dollars through dilution of their stakes during the quarter, following a sharp rally in the market seen over the recent past.

In 2007, the market benchmark Sensex surged by 6,500 points or more than 47%, while market capitalisation of all the listed companies grew by close to Rs 35,00,000 crore (Rs 35, 000 billion). In the October-December quarter alone, the total market capitalisation grew by close to Rs 20,00,000 crore (Rs 20, 000 billion).

The only company so far where promoter holding rose during the quarter was Bombay Dyeing, where it rose marginally from 43.46% to 44.9%.

Those where FII holdings went down included Bharat Electronics, Bombay Dyeing and LIC Housing Finance. Promoter holding remained unchanged in Bharat Electronics and LIC Housing Finance, while it rose in Bombay Dyeing.

The companies that did not see any change in either promoter or FII shareholdings include, Asian Star Co, Assam Petrochem, IVP, Typhoon Holdings, SRF Polymers, Shah Construction, Pulsar International, Principal Pharma, Poddar Infra and PFL Infotech.