Investors on a buying spree of Kingfisher scrips

Overseas investors as well as small individuals and HNIs seem to be on a share buying spree in Kingfisher Airlines, even as questions are being raised about resumption of its operations after the cash-strapped carrier's licence was suspended.

The foreign institutional investors have more than doubled their holding to 2.46 per cent stake in Vijay Mallya-led UB group's Kingfisher Airlines, while small individual shareholders hiked their holding significantly to 17.59 per cent during the quarter ended September 30.

The high-networth individuals also raised their holding to 13.78 per cent from 8.45 per cent in June quarter.

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FII holdings in the airline rose to 2.46 per cent in the July-September quarter from 0.98 per cent in the previous three months, as per stock exchanges data.

The holding of small investors (defined as those holding up to Rs 100,000 worth shares in a company) has grown by 3.81 percentage points, while that of HNIs (individuals with shares worth over Rs 100,000) has risen by 4.59 percentage points.

Besides, the latest shareholding data of Kingfisher shows that the numbers of small individual and HNI shareholders have increased considerably during this time.

On the other hand, the total promoter holding has dipped to 35.83 per cent from 35.86 per cent in June quarter.

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The promoters have pledged over 90 per cent of their shares with various lenders, leaving them with a non-encumbered stake of just 3.55 per cent.

The shareholding of institutional investors (insurance, banks and financial institutions) has also come down in the recent quarters and fell to 15.60 per cent, from 14.18 per cent as on June 30, 2012.

The stake of domestic institutional investors slipped marginally to 13.14 per cent in September quarter from 13.20 per cent in the preceding three months.

The operations of Kingfisher remains disrupted since September 30, first due to a strike by its engineers and pilots, then the lockout declared by the management.

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This was followed by suspension of its flying permit by Directorate General of Civil Aviation last week after the carrier failed to produce a plan on how it would revive its operations.

Its shares hit an all-time low of Rs 7.01 in August and is currently trading at around Rs 11.

About a year ago, it was trading over Rs 31 level.

Besides, shares have dived more than 30 per cent since Kingfisher has been grounded.

The total number of HNI shareholders currently stand at 2,05,781-- as against 1,79,325 as on June 30 2012 and the number of small individual investor were 3,072 as compared to 1,961 during the same period.