A nip and a tuck

Even as the Securities and Exchange Board of India is yet to make up its mind on what should be the next course of action given that most listed companies have missed the deadline to reduce promoter holding to 25%, companies are going ahead and re-categorising part of their promoter holding under the public holding category. L Madhusudhan Rao, too, has done something similar with Lanco Industries, the company that makes foundry iron and ductile pipes. While five promoter entities hold 50.78% stake, Rao and six other individuals collectively hold 31.01% stake. Recently, Rao sold 333,000 shares in the open market at an average price of Rs 22 a share, thus bringing his holding in personal capacity down to 0.44% from 1.28%. Unlike his beleaguered power venture, Lanco Infratech, where the promoters have pledged more than half of their close to 71% stake, Rao has not pledged any stake in Lanco Industries. However, Lanco Industries, too, has been grappling with losses for the past two years. After clocking profit after tax of Rs 58 crore in FY10, the company has slipped into the red in FY12 and FY13.