ICICI Lombard shares surge 11% as ICICI Bank approves stake increase

Shares of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co Ltd rallied 11 percent in early trade as ICICI Bank board clears plan to raise stake in ICICI Lombard by 4 percent. At 9:37 am the ICICI Lombard stock was up 11.92 percent at Rs 1,220 on NSE.

The ICICI Bank board has approved raising its stake in ICICI Lombard General Insurance by 4 percent in multiple transactions, according to an exchange filing on May 28. The bank owns 48.02 percent of the general insurance arm. ICICI Bank plans to acquire at least 2.5 percent of the 4 percent by September 9, 2024.

In insurance ventures, banks can hold either less than 30 percent or more than 50 percent in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India guidelines. ICICI Bank, the country’s second-largest private sector lender, had earlier sought to reduce its stake in the general insurer to below 30 percent. The bank had requested a delay in diluting the stake until September 9, 2024, and the regulator granted the request.

ICICI Bank also informed the exchanges that its board had approved the reappointment of Sandeep Batra as executive director for two more years, effective December 23, 2023, to December 22, 2025, subject to RBI approval. “The Board noted that this renewed term of two years is within the five years term as previously approved by the shareholders,” it said. In addition, Hari Mundra, B Sriram, and S Madhavan were re-appointed for a second term by the ICICI board.

Brokerage Target

According to Motilal Oswal, estimates for premium remains unchanged for FY24/FY25. Whereas their profit after tax (PAT) estimates have been marginally lowered by 4 percent each for FY24/FY25. They have retained a BUY rating and their target price of Rs 1,400 (29x FY25E).

Stock Performance

ICICI Lombard has given a return of 69.30 percent over the last 5 years. Thus, underperforming the benchmark Nifty50 index which has given a return of 74.06 percent over the same period.

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