People's Bank of China acquires 1% stake in HDFC

The People's Bank of China has taken up 1.01 per cent stake in the lending major Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC).

New Delhi:In a major development for the Indian financial sector, the People's Bank of China has taken up 1.01 per cent stake in the lending major Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC).

The central bank of China has acquired nearly 1.75 crore shares in HDFC during the quarter ended March, according to data submitted by the company at the BSE.

The development comes at a time when the share price of the lender plunged. During the past one month the stock prices of HDFC fell over 25 per cent amid the beating across stocks due to the coronavirus crisis.

Foreign portfolio investors hold 70.88 per cent stake in the company which also includes a 3.23 per cent shareholding of the Government of Singapore.

Currently, the shares of HDFC are at Rs 1,701.95 per share on the BSE.

The People's Bank of China holds stakes in companies across the world, including BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc.

PBOC has been an existing shareholder in HDFC: Keki Mistry

HDFC has clarified that the Chinese central bank, Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) has been an existing shareholder of the company and only the disclosure is being made now as they hit the one per cent threshold.

HDFC's Vice Chairman and CEO Keki Mistry told IANS that the PBOC has been an existing shareholder and had owned 0.8 per cent in the company as of March 2019.

The disclosure has been made now since the stake has hit the one per cent regulatory threshold. They have been accumulating the shares over a year and are now holding 1.1 per cent.

India's bell-weather stock, HDFC Ltd, saw it's stock price fall 40 per cent from highs reached in late January.

In 2014, the PBOC had picked up stakes in many high profile Italian companies during the Eurozone debt crisis, when outlook on Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain was very weak.

(IANS Report)