Rakesh Jhunjhunwala might have lost nearly Rs 500 crore in last four days as Sensex, Nifty slip

Correction in the benchmark indices might have burned a Rs 500 hole in Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio this week. S&P BSE Sensex erased 654 points during the week and the broader 50-stock NSE Nifty gave up the crucial 15,000 mark. Based on Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s shareholding at the end of the October-December quarter, just six stocks owned by him could have collectively caused the nearly Rs 500 crore blow. These include the likes of Titan company, a stock Jhunjhunwala has held for years now and even Tata Motors, which he added to the portfolio just recently.

The biggest fall, in percentage terms among these stocks, was seen by Tata Motors. The newly added Tata Group firm in Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio fell 7.3% in the last four days of the week. The stock price was at Rs 336 on closing on Monday but dropped to Rs 312 per share on Friday. Jhujhunwala owns 4 crore equity shares of the company, this translates to a Rs 96 crore loss in four days.

In terms of value, it was one of his oldest bets that erased the largest portion of wealth. Titan Company, another Tata Group firm that Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has held for years now, fell 4% since closing on Monday. The stock price went from Rs 1,485 to Rs 1,425. At the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal year, the big bull held 4.71 crore shares of the company. This roughly makes the loss stand at a staggering Rs 283 crore.

Although some on Dalal Street are suggesting the back to normal trade now, which includes hospitality stocks, that theme did not exactly benefit Rakesh Jhunjhunwala this week. Indian Hotels fell 6.1% this week pulling the big bull’s wealth lower by Rs 20 crore. Along with this, Jhunjhunwala’s rural and agriculture play Escorts was also not helping his portfolio this week. Shares of the company fell 4.42%, resulting in a Rs 39 crore loss in just four days.

Among the other bets of the ave investor that did not play out this week include Crisil, the domestic arm of American rating and research agency S&P Global. Crisil’s share price slipped 3.9% since closing on Monday to end the week at Rs 1,945 per share, this converts to a loss of Rs 31 crore for Rakesh Jhunjhunwala who owns Rs 39.75 lakh shares of the company. Pharma firm Lupin was also among the drags, falling 1.6%. This erased Rs 27 crore of Jhunjhunwala’s wealth. Overall the loss totals Rs 496 crore, based on the third quarter shareholding data.

(Calculations are based on shareholding pattern at the end of the October-December quarter of fiscal year 2021.)