Leading private sector lender ICICI Bank's stake in the troubled air carrier Kingfisher Airlines has come down sharply to 2.9%, from more than 5% at the end of 2011.
As per the latest shareholding pattern filed by Kingfisher with the stock exchanges today, ICICI Bank held about 16.7 million shares, accounting for a 2.9% stake, in the airline as on March 31, 2012.
In contrast, ICICI Bank held 26.3 million shares, or 5.3% 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%) and SHCIL Services Ltd (1.04%).
At the current market price, the shares estimated to be sold by ICICI Bank during the quarter would be worth about Rs 15 crore.
Kingfisher shares have been seeing huge selling pressure for many months now. The stock slipped 2.2% in today's trade on 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.
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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% stake), but more than 90% 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% at that time.
Besides ICICI Bank, state-run banking major Punjab National Bank (PNB) is also believed to have lowered its stake in Kingfisher. While PNB held 1.14% stake in Kingfisher at the end of 2011, but its name does not figure among the shareholders owning more than one% 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% stake at the end of every quarter.
Among other shareholders, SBI's holding stood at 4.89% as on March 31, 2012 -- which is unchanged from the level on February 8, 2012, but down from 5.68% 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%), Bank of India (1.51%) and Uco Bank (1.21%).