People's Bank of China raises stake to over 1% in HDFC amid 32% crash in stock

People's Bank of China (PBOC) has raised its stake to 1.01% in the country's largest housing finance lender HDFC in  March quarter. China's Central Bank held nearly 1.75 crore shares in HDFC in Q4 of last fiscal, data from BSE show. PBOC already held 0.8 percent in the company as of March 2019, HDFC's Vice Chairman and CEO Keki Mistry said, according to reports. It is compulsory for firms to disclose data for shareholders with over 1% stake at the end of every quarter.

National Co-convenor of Swadeshi Jagran Manch Ashwani Mahajan in a Twitter post urged PM Narendra Modi and FM Nirmala Sitharaman not to let ownership of institutions go out of Indian hands.

Other public shareholders who held substantial stake in the parent of HDFC Bank are Invesco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund (3.33% or 5.76 crore shares) , Government of Singapore 3.23% or 5.28 crore shares) and Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (1.74% or 3.01 crore shares).

HDFC Bank succession: RBI puts on hold key board appointments, says recruit new CEO first

Among insurance firms, India's largest state-owned insurer LIC held 4.67% or 8.09 crore shares in HDFC.

Private sector insurer ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company held 1.20% stake or 2.08 crore shares in HDFC  in Q4 of last fiscal. Largest shareholders in the housing finance firm were 37 mutual funds which held 9.52% or 16.49 crore shares at the end of March quarter.  The large cap stock lost 32.29% in last quarter amid market hit by weak sentiment.

HDFC Bank stock gains 4% as RBI asks lender to pick new CEO on priority

On 31 December, the stock stood at Rs 2,412.55 on BSE. The stock fell to 1,633 on March 31 this year. The stock closed 9.29% or 144 points higher at Rs 1,701.95 on Thursday. Its market cap stood at Rs 2.94 lakh crore on BSE. The stock has gained 13.51% in last three trading sessions. However, it has lost 17.7% during the last one year and fallen 29.48% since the beginning of this year.

During the last one week, stock has gained 7.42%. HDFC owns 19.43% stake in country's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank and 52.7% in HDFC Asset Management Company and 51.45% in HDFC Life Insurance Company.