Among the stocks Jhunjhunwala exited was Ion Exchange, where he had held 5.3 per cent stake in the past six quarters. The Big Bull, who had been a key shareholder in Ion Exchange at least since December quarter of 2015, was not among its top shareholders at the end of the March quarter, BSE shareholding data showed.
GMR Infra was another stock that Jhunjhunwala seems to have sold. He had kept his stake unchanged at 1.4 per cent for at least past four quarters. But March quarter shareholding data did not list him as a key shareholder.
In the case of Firstsource Solutions, Jhunjhunwala cut his holding to 1.3 per cent in December quarter from 2.9 per cent in September quarter. The ace investor probably exited it in the March quarter.
Indiabulls Real Estate is another stock where Jhunjhunwala’s stake fell below 1 per cent at the end of March.
Indian listing rules require companies to name the shareholders who hold in excess of 1 per cent stake. It could not be ascertained whether Jhunjhunwala still holds shares tiny stakes in the four stocks mentioned or exited them completely.
Meanwhile, Jhunjhunwala cut his exposure to VIP Industries by 2.99 percentage points to 2.32 per cent from 5.31 per cent sequentially. This company’s sales momentum was not good in January and February, while it witnessed a major slowdown in March amid a spike in Covid cases. Covid-hit states like Maharashtra, NCR, Gujarat, Karnataka contribute more than 40 per cent of the VIP’s sales.
Jhunjhunwala and his better half Rekha also trimmed stake in Titan by 26 basis points sequentially to about 5.1 per cent from 5.3 per cent.
Earlier this week, Jhunjhunwala told the AIMA Conclave that midcaps should outperform favoured blue chips like Titan over the next 4-5 years. He, however, said he remained positive on Titan’s prospects.
“It has been such an overwhelming life in Titan that there is no space for other scrips. Whatever I have bought at a reasonable valuation has shot up. Titan is doing well, why should I sell it? Where will I get the money to buy some new scrips?” he asked.
Other stocks where Jhunjhunwala’s shareholding came down in March quarter included Prakash Pipes (down 22 basis points), Tata Communications (down 8 basis points), Aptech (6 basis points) and Prakash Industries (down 6 basis points).
Meanwhile, the Big Bull increased stake in MCX by 98 basis points to 4.9 per cent from 3.9 per cent sequentially. In Fortis Healthcare, he hiked his holding by 34 basis points to 4.3 per cent. In Jubilant Pharmova, erstwhile Jubilant Life Sciences, the ace investor raised stake by 47 basis points to 6.3 per cent from 5.8 per cent. Agro Tech Foods and TV18 Broadcast are two other stocks where Jhunjhunwala was seen raising stake in the March quarter, albeit marginally.
