After the death of veteran stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the Jhunjhunwala family’s stock portfolio is now handled by his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala. The recent market downturn has affected the family’s holdings.
The Sensex and Nifty have fallen 8-9 per cent since the end of the September quarter, while the Jhunjhunwala family portfolio has seen a more significant decline of 13 per cent.
As of Tuesday evening, the portfolio was valued at Rs. 40,082.90 crore, which at the end of the previous quarter was Rs. 55,095.90 crores.
None of Jhunjhunwala’s top five stock holdings have given positive returns. The family’s most notable investments are in Titan, Concorde Biotech, Star Health and Allied Insurance, Tata Motors and Metro Brands. The shares of all these companies have recorded a decline of 6 to 24 percent.
Titan
Jhunjhunwala has a stake of 5.1% or ₹14,741 crore in Titan Company Limited. The stock is down 15.80% since September 30. The main reason for this decline is believed to be the company’s weak second quarter (Q2) results. Titan’s jewelery segment’s margins were weaker than expected and the company cut its margin guidance for FY25 by 100 basis points. Brokerages such as Goldman Sachs and Jefferies believe that the customs duty cut boosted jewelery growth, but had a negative impact on reported margins.
Tata Motors
Shares of Tata Motors, in which the Jhunjhunwala family owns 1.3%, have fallen 20% since September 30. The company’s British arm, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), maintained EBIT margin guidance of 8.5% for FY25 but cut free cash flow (FCF) guidance to 1.3 billion pounds from 1.8 billion pounds. This is believed to be due to high capex (capital expenditure). Incred Equities said despite good product mix, weak average selling price (ASP), decline in gross margin and increase in marketing expenses are concerns.
Star Health and Allied Insurance
Shares of Star Health fell 24%. Its Q2 results saw a 410 basis point increase in claims ratio. The increase is due to prolonged monsoon, increased cases of critical illnesses and increased share of group business. Analysts believe that an improvement in the company’s scale will reduce the expense ratio, but the impact on the loss ratio will depend on the price and product mix. MOFSL has allocated Rs. Maintained “Buy” rating with a target of 630.
Metro Brands
Shares of Metro Brands fell 13%. The last six quarters have been quite eventful for the company. FILA’s inventory liquidation in Q2FY25 impacted gross margin. However, the company has accelerated the pace of store additions and aims to open 100 new stores in FY25. The company’s revenue per store seems to be stabilizing, but Q4FY25 will be a key test for its performance. Analysts have suggested a target of Rs 1,175.