Fund managers see a 'muted picture'

Meanwhile, beating street expectations, industrial output growth for November has stood at 5.9 per cent, impacting the market sentiment.

For the week, Rikesh Parikh’s net worth stands at Rs 971,000, down 2.9 per cent; Ashish Mittal’s net worth is Rs 936,000, down 6.4 per cent; Alex Mathews’ net worth is Rs 1,014,000, up 1.4 per cent; and Ajay Parmar’s net worth totals Rs 995,000, down 0.5 per cent.

Rikesh Parikh, V-P (equity strategies), Motilal Oswal Securities
“I have increased exposure to large-cap stocks such as HDFC Bank, Jaipraksh and Hindalco, where the earnings visibility is high. I have exited from Deepak Fertilizer, while booking profit in HCL tech. We expect the Sensex profit after tax (PAT) to grow nine per cent year-on-year in the December quarter. This will be the lowest four-quarter average growth, except the global crisis quarters. While the top growing sectors would be cement, utilities, private banks, consumer and technology, the top de-growing ones would include infrastructure, real estate, telecom, metals and capital goods.”

His top holdings include Dena Bank, Coal India, Mcleod Russel India, State Bank of India and Jaiprakash Associates.
 

RIKESH PARIKH
Top Holdings	Cost price (Rs)	Current price (Rs)	Value  (Rs lakh)
Dena Bank	76.10	59.10	0.35
Coal India	339.94	325.65	0.33
Mcleod Russel India	234.20	190.85	0.29
State Bank of India	1783.97	1764.40	0.26
Jaiprakash Associates	62.24	58.80	0.26
Total investments			2.45
Cash			7.25
Net worth			9.71

Ashish Mittal, fund manager (portfolio management services), Centrum Wealth
“The portfolio construct follows a defensive investment strategy, something I intend to maintain till the March’12 elections and, thus, I continue to maintain exposure to deep-value stocks and cash rich companies with a high dividend yield. I also have exposure to interest rate-sensitive sectors (such as banks, auto and capital goods), expected to gain from an increasingly probable reversal in the rate cycle. Currently, I have exposure to just one metal company, for its cash position and large play on silver, which is a byproduct.”

Mittal remained on the sidelines during the week. His top holdings include MRF, Balmer Lawrie & Co, Karur Vysya Bank, Bharat Electronics and ITC.
 

ASHISH MITTAL
Top Holdings	Cost price (Rs)	Current price (Rs)	Value  (Rs lakh)
MRF	6,816.10	7,297.70	0.73
Balmer Lawrie & Company	618.48	493.40	0.64
Karur Vysya Bank	372.59	359.25	0.61
Bharat Electronics	1,582.70	1,464.35	0.59
ITC	199.36	204.95	0.56
Total investments			8.32
Cash			1.04
Net worth			9.36

Alex Mathews, head (technical and derivatives research), Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services
“I have sold Timken India and Manappuram Finance at a profit and have added Deccan Chronicle Holdings, Reliance Industrial Infra, Pipavav Defense, Hexaware and Hindustan Oil Exploration, which are trading with good gains. Going forward, I would try to add banking and infrastructure stocks if the Reserve Bank of India eases its stance on interest rates and reserve ratio. As far as the quarterly numbers are concerned, we expect a muted picture. IT and technology stocks may bring out comparatively good results due to the rupee depreciation seen in the last quarter. On the other hand, manufacturing, banking, infrastructure and auto segments are expected to post dull results. The whole picture may turn around from the second quarter of FY13, when interest rates and input cost would start to decline. Having said this, given the advance tax numbers, it won’t be as bad as the last quarter.”

His top holdings include Muthoot Finance, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering Company, Deccan Chronicle Holdings and Hexaware Technologies.
 

ALEX MATHEWS
Top Holdings	Cost price (Rs)	Current price (Rs)	Value  (Rs lakh)
Muthoot Finance	156.39	156.05	0.78
Reliance Industrial Infra	333.63	427.60	0.64
Pipavav Defence & Offshore	68.92	69.25	0.35
Deccan Chronicle Holdings	39.10	40.85	0.20
Hexaware Technologies	82.41	83.45	0.17
Total investments			2.54
Cash			7.59
Net worth			10.14

Ajay Parmar, co-head (investment banking), Emkay Global
“I have pruned my portfolio a bit and am still holding on to companies like Suzlon, IRB Infra, Orbit Corporation and IVRCL. We expect weak results for the December quarter, with a sales growth of 20 per cent and a PAT growth of just five per cent, on the back of rising raw material cost, shrinkage in demand and mounting interest burden. While pharma, IT, consumer and agri are expected to do well, oil & gas, power, real estate and metals are likely to be under pressure.”

His top holdings include Orbit Corporation, Shree Renuka Sugars, IVRCL, Engineers India and IRB Infrastructure Developers.
 

AJAY PARMAR
Top Holdings