LIC lowers RIL exposure, FIIs buy more in Q4

Insurance giant sold shares worth Rs 500 cr during the Q4, but FIIs raised their holding by Rs 1,200 cr

State-run insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) lowered its stake in Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) with sale of shares worth an estimated Rs 500 crore during the previous quarter, but foreign investors raised their holding by more than Rs 1,200 crore during the same period.

As per its latest shareholding pattern, filed by RIL with the stock exchanges today, LIC's stake in the country's most valued firm dipped from 7.31% to 7.09% during the January-March, 2012 quarter.

During the same quarter, the total holding of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the company rose from 17.03% to 17.55%.

As per RIL's current valuation of Rs 2,44,412 crore, the decline of 0.22% stake in LIC's holding would be worth over Rs 500 crore. On the other hand, the increase of about 0.52% in the FII holding is estimated to be worth over Rs 1,200 crore.

Among individual foreign shareholders, the holding of the Government of Singapore in RIL rose to 1.16% during the quarter, from 1.09 at the end of previous quarter.

Also, the stake of Franklin Templeton Investment Funds rose to 1.22%, from 1.08%.

The total holding of domestic institutional investors declined from 11.35% to 10.71%.

For the entire fiscal ended March 31, 2012, the FII holding declined marginally from 17.7% to 17.55%, while that of domestic institutional investors also dipped from 10.79% to 10.71%.