LIC's Market Valuation Falls Over Rs 80,000 Crore From Issue

The valuation of state-owned insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has fallen over Rs 80,000 crore from its issue, with about Rs 42,500 crore market capitalisation (m-cap) lost from its lacklustre debut on May 12 and a further Rs 38,000 crore since then.

At the issue price of Rs 949, the market capitalisation of LIC stood at Rs 6,00,242 crore; based on the listing price on the BSE, the valuation of LIC dipped to Rs 5,57,675 crore, resulting in a loss of around Rs 42,500 crore.

LIC's m-cap after Friday's close stood at about Rs 5,19,630, marking a valuation loss of around Rs 80,600 crore from the issue price and Rs 38,045 crore loss from the discounted listing price.

On Friday, the insurance behemoth's shares ended at Rs 821.55, nearly 13.5 per cent lower than its issue price and a more than 5.2 per cent loss from its listing price. 

Since its tepid debut, the stock has ranged between a high of Rs 920 and a low of Rs 801.55.

That fall in LIC's share prices mirrors the performance of domestic equities; during a tumultuous time for global risk-asset markets, stagflation concerns have whiplashed, and capital flows into flight-to-safety bets.