Stocks to watch? These firms saw fall in pledged shares in June quarter

The value of the promoters' pledged shares as a percentage of total promoters’ holding slipped to 1.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2022-23 in the BSE 500 index. The figure stood at 1.7 per cent in the preceding quarter ended March 2022, according to Kotak Institutional Equities.

The report showed that promoters of 81 companies in the BSE 500 index have pledged part of their holdings in the June 2022 quarter. Only three companies including Thyrocare Technologies, Max Financial Services and Suzlon Energy had more than 80 per cent of their promoter holdings pledged.

On the other hand, there was a substantial rise in pledged promoter holdings in companies like Medplus Health Services, Sterling & Wilson, Jindal Steel & Power, Sobha and Strides Pharma Science, among others.

Kotak Institutional Equities further highlighted that companies such as Lemon Tree Hotels, Adani Power and Sun Pharmaceuticals witnessed a fall in pledged promoter holdings.

Among the Nifty 50 companies, Adani Ports & SEZ (13.1 per cent), Apollo Hospitals (16.4 per cent), Asian Paints (11 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (45.5 per cent) and JSW Steel (16.8 per cent) had more than 5 per cent pledged promoter holdings.

Overall, the total value of pledged promoter holdings stood at Rs 1.7 lakh crore in the BSE 500 index (which is about 0.77 per cent of the total index’s market capitalisation).

The report compares changes in pledged holdings between March 2022 and June 2022 quarters. Changes in pledged holdings after June 2022 have not been incorporated in this report.

“We clarify that pledging of shares does not necessarily imply that a company or a promoter is under financial stress; banks (lenders) could have sought additional security in the form of promoter shares,” Kotak Institutional Equities said in a report.

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