State-owned insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) crossed the Rs 5 trillion market capitalisation mark in intra-day trade on Thursday. LIC shares hit an intra-day high of Rs 800 before settling at Rs 785, the highest since June 3, 2022. At the last close, the insurer was valued at Rs 4.97 trillion, making it the country’s 10th most valued firm. Shares of the company have rallied nearly 30 per cent in the past one month.
According to the data released by the Life Insurance Council, the premium of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) dropped by 32.86 per cent in November 2023 to Rs 16,134.55 crore from Rs 24,032 crore in the year-ago period. Whereas the premium of private insurers slipped by 9.33 per cent to Rs 10,360.29 crore from Rs 11,426.73 crore.
Meanwhile, from April 2023 to November 2023, LIC has posted a 24.20 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decline in premium to Rs 1,24,424.31 crore from Rs 1,64,143.27 crore. On the other hand, the private sector reported an 11.58 per cent rise in the same period to Rs 87,266.33 crore.
The market share of LIC as of November 2023 inched up to 58.78 per cent after touching a bottom of 57.37 per cent as of August 2023. The market share of private life insurers currently stands at 41.22 per cent.
Market players say the sharp increase in shares of Adani has also been a sentiment booster for LIC. The insurer holds between 1.37 per cent and 9.1 per cent stake in seven Adani group stocks, which have been on a tear over the past week.
LIC had come out with the country’s largest-ever Rs 21,000-crore Initial Public Offering (IPO) in May 2022, where its shares were priced at Rs 949. However, its shares tanked as much as 44 per cent following its listing. It has recouped most of the losses and is currently down about 17 per cent over its issue price. The latest gains will be a big boost for the government as it holds a 96.5 per cent stake in the insurer.
First Published: Dec 07 2023 | 6:53 PM IST