MSCI: MSCI may axe debt-laden Indian companies from its indices

By Abhishek Vishnoi


India’s debt-burdened companies could get kicked out of MSCI Inc.’s benchmark index later this week.

Highly indebted companies including Vodafone Idea Ltd., Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd. and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. are likely to be removed from the MSCI India Index, according to brokers.

Most of these companies have seen a sharp erosion in their market values in the wake of the yearlong crisis in India’s credit market. The troubled private lender Yes Bank Ltd. has slumped more than 60 per cent this year, while Indiabulls was axed from the NSE Nifty 50 Index in September after the mortgage lender’s share value more than halved.

Broker	Likely Deletions	Likely Additions
Churchill Capital	Glenmark, Yes Bank	Muthoot Finance, Godrej Properties
Edelweiss	Glenmark, Vodafone Idea, Indiabulls Housing, Tata Power	ICICI Prudential Life, Siemens Ltd., Berger Paints India
Morgan Stanley	Glenmark, Indiabulls Housing	SBI Life Insurance Co, ICICI Prudential Life, Siemens Ltd.
Instinet	Glenmark, Vodafone Idea, Yes Bank, Indiabulls Housing	Info Edge India, Apollo Hospitals

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. and Siemens Ltd. are companies likely to be added to MSCI’s indexes, according to Morgan Stanley and Edelweiss. The insurer is up more than 50 per cent this year. Siemens slid 0.4 per cent at 10:11 a.m. in Mumbai after reaching a record on Monday.

MSCI will announce the results of its semi-annual review of gauges on Nov. 7 during US hours. The changes will be effective at the close of Nov. 26, the index provider said last month. A company spokeswoman didn’t have any immediate comments to offer.