Promotors of 69 companies under BSE 500 index pledged part of their holdings in December 2024 quarter, according to a report by Kotak Institutional Equities revealed. It further added the promoter pledged holdings slipped to 0.84 per cent during the quarter under review (valued at ₹1.63 trillion) from 0.87 per cent in September 2024 quarter.
Sun Pharma Advanced Research and UPL featured among companies in which promoters released entire pledged holdings/ stake to repay debts. Apollo Hospitals, Asian Paints, IndusInd Bank and JSW Steel were the Nifty 50 constituents with over 5 per cent of pledged promoter holdings, the report cited.
In addition, it noted that the pledged promoter holdings increased in companies like IndusInd Bank (+5.4 per cent change), Anand Rathi Wealth (+4.3 per cent), Ashok Leyland (+2.9 per cent, Anupam Rasayan and Laurus Labs (+2.7 per cent each), while a downward trend was observed in Swan Energy (-3.9 per cent change), Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (-3.2 per cent), Sun Pharma Advanced Research (-2.8 per cent), Aurobindo Pharma (-2.6 per cent) and Chambal Fertilisers (-2.5 per cent).
The report further noted that Medplus Health Services, Chalet Hotels and GMR Airports have the highest pledged holdings in overall holdings.
However, pledging of shares does not necessarily mean that a company or a promoter is under financial stress.