Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Portfolio Ekes Out Rs. 129 Crore Gain

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala‘s magnificent multi-bagger stock portfolio has been bearing the brunt of the savage Bear attack since January 2011 though it is thanks to his deft handling that the Bears haven’t been allowed to totally plunder the portfolio of all of its riches.

We have been tracking Rakesh Jhunjhunwala‘s official declared portfolio since December 2010 when the stock market touched great heights. The first alarm bells came in January 2011 when we noted that the Oracle of Mumbai had lost Rs. 157 crores. That got us worried but only just. When we took stock of his portfolio in February 2011, we were shocked to learn that the master investor was poorer by Rs. 400 crores. Then, while we knew that things were not looking very bright thanks to the marauding bears that seem to have taken a tight grip over Dalal Street, he managed to turn the tables on the Bears and eked out a gain of Rs. 129 crores.

It must be said that Rs. 129 crores, which is just 3.24% of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio of Rs. 3,983 crores is a very modest figure. His gains would have been much higher (nearly Rs. 480 crores) had it not been for the crippling losses that some worthless stocks caused the portfolio to suffer.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala follows a strict policy of “Reward the Winners and Fire the Losers”. However, despite his eagle eye, some rotten stocks do manage to creep in and contaminate the multibagger portfolio.

Leading the fall in absolute terms was the master’s one time favourite stock Bilcare. In 2003, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had heaped lavish praise on Bilcare saying "it will be among the top companies of the world in the pharmaceutical package". He also said about Bilcare “this stock will give mind-boggling returns”. Bilcare lost 51.20 crores constituting 38.76% of the hard earned money invested in it.

Lupin, a stock still dear to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, and one of his earliest multibaggers, lost Rs. 48.55 crores and became the second biggest loser.

Hindustan Oil Exploration, a stock with which Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has stood through thick and thin, over the past 10 years, also disappointed, giving away Rs. 41.85 crores to the bears.

The relentless bears claimed their third victim in Geojit BNP Paribas, the worthless stock-broking stock which lost Rs. 39.24 crores of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala‘s precious wealth. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala would be hard pressed to explain why he invested in this Bakwas stock which has never given him even a day’s pride of possession.

NCC, which was at one time Rakesh Jhunjhunwala‘s blue-eyed stock and which also was his earliest multibaggers, was done in by the pessimism gripping the infrastructure sector and lost a whopping Rs. 36 crores.

Karur Vyasa Bank is Rakesh Jhunjhunwala‘s apple-of-the eye stock. The master investor never has a harsh word to say about Karur Vyasa Bank because no other stock has rewarded him as much as Karur Vyasa Bank. Low Profile, unassuming and down-to-earth but a fabulous multibagger nevertheless. Sadly, the inflation and shrinking NIMs took their toll on Karur Vyasa Bank and it deprived Rakesh Jhunjhunwala of Rs. 26.83 crores.

Among the other notable losers are Orchid Chemicals (Rs. 21.46 crores), IFCI (Rs. 15.48 crores), Punj Lloyd (Rs. 14.61 crores) and Praj Industries (Rs. 13.79 crores).

Geometric is one stock where one has to feel sorry for Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. In 2003, the Oracle of Mumbai was so confident about Geometric that he called it "the biggest element of enterprise software".

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala kept his faith in Geometric, nurturing it over the past several years. Even though all other stocks in the portfolio turned into multibaggers to reward Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Geometric has kept him waiting. Over the past 8 years, Geometric has returned a miserable aggregate return of 15%. One can’t understand what the master investor sees in Geometric that he continues to keep it in his precious portfolio.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala‘s crown jewel Titan Industries was worth every penny of respect that India’s greatest investor has heaped on it. We reported earlier that he picked up Titan Industries in 2001 when it was languishing at Rs. 60 (pre split, bonus). Rakesh Jhunjhunwala exhorted everyone at the public meeting to buy Titan Industries. Two years later, in 2003, when Titan Industries had doubled to Rs. 120, the master still exuded supreme confidence and told investors to buy Titan. Titan Industries has richly rewarded Rakesh Jhunjhunwala with a 3500% return making it a fabulous multibagger. Today, from January 2011 itself, Titan Industries has given Rakesh Jhunjhunwala a profit of Rs. 323 crores, being 25% of his investment of Rs. 1,627 crores (present value).

CRISIL would have also brought some respite to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala with its gain of Rs. 108 crores. VIP Industries, a stock that we were too afraid to buy even though we knew that one should just follow the master investor has given gains of Rs. 36.41 crores, a fabulous return of 33.14% since January 2011.

Names of shares in which Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has holdings

Company Price Change Quantity Inv. Price Day’s Gain Day’s Gain% Overall Gain Overall Gain% Latest Value Titan Industrie   224.35 -7.40 72521220 179.75 -536,657,028 -3.19% 3234446412 24.81% 16,270,135,707 CRISIL   7970.60 +732.80 550000 6,005.80 403,040,000 10.12% 1080640000 32.72% 4,383,830,000 VIP Industries   890.25 +1.10 1643000 668.65 1,807,300 0.12% 364088800 33.14% 1,462,680,750 Kajaria Ceramic   107.40 -0.90 2502642 73.95 -2,252,378 -0.83% 83713375 45.23% 268,783,751 Agro Tech Foods   397.00 -6.35 2003259 375.05 -12,720,695 -1.57% 43971535 5.85% 795,293,823 Delta Corp   109.15 -1.40 7500000 106.95 -10,500,000 -1.27% 16500000 2.06% 818,625,000 Prime Focus   72.30 +2.25 882500 64.50 1,985,625 3.21% 6883500 12.09% 63,804,750 Rallis India   145.10 -1.90 7465880 144.41 -14,185,172 -1.29% 5151457 0.48% 1,083,299,188 Adinath Exim Re   15.85 -0.75 250000 16.00 -187,500 -4.52% -37500 -0.94% 3,962,500 Alphageo   140.10 -2.20 125000 175.90 -275,000 -1.55% -4475000 -20.35% 17,512,500 Reliance Broadc   81.50 +0.45 1750000 88.45 787,500 0.56% -12162500 -7.86% 142,625,000 Ion Exchange   148.45 +1.90 650000 172.65 1,235,000 1.30% -15730000 -14.02% 96,492,500 Zen Tech   143.40 +0.05 900000 164.30 45,000 0.03% -18810000 -12.72% 129,060,000 Pantaloon (DVR)   181.55 +1.90 211000 316.90 400,900 1.06% -28558850 -42.71% 38,307,050 Mcnally Bh Engg   162.00 +7.00 480000 225.35 3,360,000 4.52% -30408000 -28.11% 77,760,000 Viceroy Hotels   32.70 -1.85 4750000 39.25 -8,787,500 -5.35% -31112500 -16.69% 155,325,000 SREI Infra (2)   46.10 +0.75 2250000 60.75 1,687,500 1.65% -32962500 -24.12% 103,725,000 Stride Arcolab   355.85 -6.85 500000 448.60 -3,425,000 -1.89% -46375000 -20.68% 177,925,000 Praj Industries   80.75 +1.75 14460624 84.25 25,306,092 2.22% -50612184 -4.15% 1,167,695,388 Provogue   36.70 -0.15 1900000 64.15 -285,000 -0.41% -52155000 -42.79% 69,730,000 Autoline Ind   161.75 -0.85 1251233 206.40 -1,063,548 -0.52% -55867553 -21.63% 202,386,938 A2Z Maintenance   266.75 -3.00 1400000 327.15 -4,200,000 -1.11% -84560000 -18.46% 373,450,000 Geometric   51.85 -0.55 4900000 78.15 -2,695,000 -1.05% -128870000 -33.65% 254,065,000 Punj Lloyd   73.30 -1.00 3790000 111.85 -3,790,000 -1.35% -146104500 -34.47% 277,807,000 IFCI   46.20 -0.30 7500000 66.85 -2,250,000 -0.65% -154875000 -30.89% 346,500,000 Orchid Chemical   228.80 -11.35 2500000 314.65 -28,375,000 -4.73% -214625000 -27.28% 572,000,000 Karur Vysya   421.75 -9.10 5629224 469.42 -51,225,938 -2.11% -268345108 -10.15% 2,374,125,222 NCC   79.65 -4.05 5000000 151.85 -20,250,000 -4.84% -361000000 -47.55% 398,250,000 Geojit BNP   22.00 +0.05 36000000 32.90 1,800,000 0.23% -392400000 -33.13% 792,000,000 Hind Oil Explor   178.85 -2.50 7272416 236.40 -18,181,040 -1.38% -418527540 -24.34% 1,300,671,602 Lupin   446.85 -13.70 13639175 482.45 -186,856,697 -2.97% -485554630 -7.38% 6,094,665,349 Bilcare   403.85 -11.80 2002925 659.50 -23,634,515 -2.84% -512047777 -38.76% 808,881,261