ICICI Lombard shares decline on Haldiram's hit

NEW DELHI: Shares of ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company ended lower on Thursday amid reports that the company, along with National Insurance Company, may take a combined hit of Rs 300 crore from the fire that gutted the manufacturing unit of Haldiram’s, the biggest sweets and snacks maker in the country.

The fire, which raged for 15 hours from September 6 and took atleast 100 fire tenders and more than 200 firefighters to douse, destroyed a new manufacturing unit with modern machines in Noida’s Sector 68, ET reported.

Following the developemnt, the scrip fell 0.65 per cent to end the session at Rs 714.50 on BSE.

ICICI Lombard, the only listed private sector general insurer, has a small exposure in this policy and may end up taking a hit as well. An ICICI Lombard spokesperson said that as a policy the company does not comment on its clients.

According to an executive aware of the matter, the property damage is estimated at Rs 250 crore and business interruption loss, also known as consequential loss, is about Rs 430 crore. “The estimated loss to the insurance companies is about Rs 300 crore,” the executive told ET.