LIC shares hit new low, market cap slips below Rs 5 lakh crore

Mumbai: The shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) hit a new low on Monday on the BSE and declined 2.86% during the day to Rs 777.40 a piece.
The latest share price of the insurer is nearly 18% lower compared to the issue price of Rs 949 per equity share.
With the share pricing sliding consistently, LIC’s market capitalization (market cap) has now slipped below Rs 5 lakh crore. At the closing price level of Monday, the company’s full market cap stood at Rs 4.91 lakh crore.
The LIC initial public offering (IPO) which closed on May 9 had been subscribed nearly three times and the government had considered it a ‘tremendous’ success.
Post closure of the IPO, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Tuhin Kanta Pandey had said that the issue met with tremendous success from all categories of investors.
On the pricing of the LIC shares, Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said that it been done on the basis of the insurer’s core intrinsic value.
“Let us look at it from a medium to long term. We are hopeful that the value offered will give good returns,” Malhotra had said.
Days before the LIC listing on the bourses, LIC shares were being quoted at a discount in the grey market. As signalled by the grey market, shares of the insurance behemoth made a tepid debut on exchange listing at a discount to the IPO price. (LIC)