Small investors stuck at Kingfisher's counter

In a strange development, the small retail investors' number is slowly bulging to a record high level of about 2.4 lakh in the grounded airline Kingfisher, which account of nearly 97 per cent of the overall shareholder base of the company.

There is no logic why the small investors are buying even as the carrier has remained grounded for over nine months and its market value has plummented by over 90 per cent.

The company currently carries a market value of just about `400 crore, from a peak valuation of close to `10,000 crore at one point of time. Its shares are currently trading near to `5 level, from close to `20 late last year and near `75 per share few years ago. Shares hit an all-time low of `3.86 last month.

Incidentally, total number of promoter shareholders is just six, including Mallya himself and his group entities, while the number of various institutional investors is also very small. While the large investors managed to exit from the counter much earlier (at a right time), the small ones now stuck, says experts.