Private sector lender YES Bank has become the first Indian company to have over 50 lakh shareholders, according to the shareholding pattern of the bank on March-end.
Tata Power was a far second with 38.5 lakh shareholders, followed by Reliance Industries with 33.6 lakh shareholders, according to the December 2022 shareholding disclosures.
The bank had 50.6 lakh shareholders as of March 31, 2023, all of whom were public shareholders. This was an increase from 48.1 lakh shareholders as of December 2022, most likely owing to the end of the three-year lock-in period for shareholders that held equity shares of the bank when it underwent the reconstruction scheme in March 2020.
The end of the lock-in period on March 13 allowed for more shares of the bank to be available for public trade. As such, the number of shareholders of the bank has been steadily increasing since the 17.9 lakh shareholders at the time of implementation of the YES Bank reconstruction scheme.
Since then, the total number of shares held has also more than doubled from 1,255 crore to 2,875 crore.
Also read: YES Bank shares plunge as lock-in period ends, overall losses weigh
Shares of the bank closed 1 per cent lower today at ₹15.25 on the NSE. The stock, which used to trade once in triple digits has been declining since August 2018, and took the worst beating once the fraudulent transactions of the previous management came to light at the beginning of 2020.
Since August 2020, it has largely been trading in the ₹20-30 range, having dropped around 30 per cent in 2023 so far. The 52-week high for the stock is ₹24.75, and the 52-week low is ₹12.25.