Listing Date, Reservation of Policyholder, Discount and Other Updates of LIC IPO

Life insurance Corporation (LIC), which has become almost synonymous with the country’s insurance industry, was set to go public in the current financial year. But the Rs 60,000 crore listing has hit a roadblock. The timing of LIC’s IPO hinges on the sentiment and stability of the markets improving. Amid geopolitical uncertainty, it’s a tall task to predict when the fog would clear out. So, quite understandably, the government does not want to risk sabotaging the LIC IPO in such volatile markets, and has pushed it out into early FY23.

Earlier this week the government has filed updated draft papers with market regulator Sebi for an initial public offer of LIC, incorporating December quarter financials of the insurance behemoth, an official said on Monday.
In the run-up to the mega IPO, on February 13, the government had filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the regulator giving details of financial results till September. The DRHP got Sebi approval early this month. “Updated DRHP of LIC with December financials has been filed,” an official said, adding it was required to be done as per Sebi observations.

As per the updated financials, the Life Insurance Corporation reported a net profit of Rs 235 crore in the October-December quarter. The net profit in April-December, 2021, increased to Rs 1,671.57 crore from Rs 7.08 crore a year ago.

The government is expecting to garner over Rs 60,000 crore by selling about 31.6 crore or 5 per cent stake in the life insurance firm to meet the curtailed disinvestment target of Rs 78,000 crore in the current fiscal.