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In a major revamp of its investment portfolio, Reliance Industries Ltd has sold off its holdings in four banks, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank and PNB, but has tanked up its holdings in two others -- SBI and ICICI Bank.
Besides, Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate has made fresh investments in shares of at least four public sector entities -- NMDC, NTPC, ONGC and Oil India, shows its latest annual report for the year 2012-13.
In its non-equity portfolio, RIL made fresh investments totalling Rs 300 crore in the debentures of Tata Sons Ltd, parked an amount totalling Rs 791 crore in three schemes of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group's mutual fund company and liquidated an investment of Rs 15,720 crore in certificate of deposits with scheduled banks.
Besides, the cash-rich RIL has retained its long-term investments in companies like EIH Ltd (Rs 1,433 crore), HFCL (Rs 57 crore) and HDFC Ltd (Rs 949 crore).
In ICICI Bank, the company's shareholding grew from Rs 79 crore to Rs 174 crore, while the same in State Bank of India rose from Rs 112 crore to Rs 199 crore.
On the other hand, RIL sold off its holdings in HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank. Incidentally, RIL is itself rumoured to be interested in applying for a banking licence, but there has been no official word on this as yet.
While it had a total outstanding debt of over Rs 72,000 crore as on March 31, 2013, RIL is a debt-free company on a net basis. Its cash and cash equivalents as on that date amounted to Rs 82,975 crore.
The company has been traditionally managing its short term resources by placing them in very liquid, highly rated securities such as bank fixed deposits, Government securities and bonds and money market mutual funds.
However, latest changes in its portfolio also indicate towards an increased focus towards fixed maturity plans of mutual funds, listed shares and corporate bonds.
Among fresh long-term investments in listed shares, RIL has disclosed holdings worth Rs 142 crore in NMDC, Rs 134 crore in NTPC, Rs 42 crore in Oil India and Rs 136 crore in ONGC.
Besides, the company has also put in additional amounts of Rs 106 crore and Rs 58 crore in the shares of NTPC and ONGC as part of its 'current investment' portfolio.
Among unlisted shares, RIL has invested in the NSE, Shinano Retail and Terra Power LLC, among others.
Its total long-term investment in listed shares rose to Rs 3,285 crore as on March 31, 2013, from Rs 2,736 crore a year ago. Including the non-equity investments, the total long-term investment portfolio was at Rs 9,482 crore at the end of the last fiscal.
In addition, its current or short-term investments stood at Rs 28,869 crore as on March 31, 2013, as against Rs 27,173 crore a year ago.
The company recorded a net gain of Rs 1,303 crore on sale of current investments during the fiscal 2012-13, while its net gain from sale of long-term investments was Rs 465 crore.
RIL recorded a net profit of Rs 21,003 crore in the last fiscal, while its revenue stood at over Rs 3.7 lakh crore.
During 2012-13, the company saw its 'other income' rise considerably to Rs 7,998 crore, from Rs 6,192 crore in the previous year, primarily due to an increase in cash flows from operations that were deployed in bank deposits, mutual funds and Government securities or bonds.
