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Foreign investors have increased their stake in HDFC to over 73 per cent during three months ended December 2012 - the highest level in nearly seven years.
The shareholding of overseas players or Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), in HDFC has been steadily rising since March 2012.
Cumulative FII holdings in the company rose to 73.17 per cent in the October-December 2012 quarter whereas it stood at 68.72 per cent in three months ended September last year, according to stock exchanges data.
Moreover, the current FII holding of 73.17 per cent in HDFC is the highest in nearly seven years. The level stood at 74.07 per cent during the quarter ended March 31, 2006.
The rise of overseas shareholding in the mortgage lender, one of the highest among the country’s 30 listed blue chip companies, coincides with overall bullishness shown by foreign entities in the Indian stock market.
In May last year, HDFC’s board had approved raising FII limit in the company to 100 per cent.
Market experts say the impressive returns earned by overseas investors, Carlyle and Citigroup, in the recent past could be the main reason for other foreign entities purchasing the company’s shares.
Besides, the housing finance firm has registered a 27.55 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,705.83 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2012 on sound growth in individual loan book.
During the October-December 2012 quarter, HDFC shares surged by over seven per cent, as against 3.5 per cent gain in BSE’s benchmark Sensex.
In the same period, FIIs have invested a staggering sum of more than Rs 45,000 crore in the Indian equities on the back of a slew of reform initiatives by the government.
Besides, the overall holding of institutional investors also rose to the highest level in the past four quarters to 86.95 per cent during October-December 2012 period from 85.53 per cent at the end of March 31, 2012, mostly on account of additional share purchases by FIIs.
The domestic institutional holdings stood at 13.77 per cent as on December 31 2012, down from 20.12 per cent in January-March quarter of 2012.
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