Ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has increased shareholding in the construction and engineering company, NCC Limited, through his wife’s portfolio Rekha Jhunjhunwala. The investor who is referred to as the big bull of Dalal Street invests in both his name and his wife’s Rekha.
The couple has been holding NCC shares since December 2015. Jhunjhunwala invested in NCC first in December 2015 through his wife Rekha, and he picked up further stakes in his name from March 2016.
Although Jhunjhunwala did not make any modifications to his own shareholding in NCC, however, he increased stakes by 0.72% in the company through his wife Rekha’s portfolio.
The latest shareholding data of NCC on exchanges showed that Rekha Jhunjhunwala’s holding in the company now stands at 1.6 crore equity shares or 2.62% as of March 2022.
Rekha’s shareholding was at 1.16 crore equity shares or 1.90% in NCC as of December 2021.
On the other hand, Rakesh’s shareholding in NCC remains unchanged at 6,67,33,266 equity shares or 10.94% of NCC.
On Wednesday, NCC shares closed at ₹69.60 apiece down by 0.71% on BSE. At the current price, NCC market valuation stands at ₹4,244.53 crore.
Jhunjhunwala picked stakes in NCC despite the stock correcting in a year.
So far in 2022, NCC shares have corrected by nearly 3%. Meanwhile, in a year, the shares have dropped more than 8% if compared to the closing price of Wednesday. NCC shares stood at ₹75.8 apiece on BSE on April 13 of 2021.
At present, NCC shares have a 52-week high and low of ₹98.45 apiece and ₹55.80 apiece respectively.
For the nine months of FY22, NCC has reported a total income of ₹7,716.92 crore (including other income) as against ₹5,222.99 crore in the corresponding nine months period of the previous year. EBITDA was at ₹754.08 crore and net profit attributable to shareholders of the company was at ₹240.28 crore in 9MFY22 as against ₹613.39 crore and ₹151.48 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. The company has posted a basic EPS of ₹3.94 and diluted EPS of 3.92 in 9MFY22 against basic and diluted EPS of ₹2.48 in the corresponding nine months of the previous year.
Markets currently will be influenced by fourth-quarter earnings of FY22, and movement in NCC shares is likely to follow the trend. Q4 earnings have taken center stage for shares listed on exchanges. NCC also will be in focus ahead of its financial performance for the fourth quarter ending March 2022. NCC is seen to record a good Q4 quarter.
Ashish Shah, Research Analysts, and Vaibhav Shah, Research Associate at Centrum for infrastructure sectors Q4 outlook said, “tendering and ordering activity remained strong in Q4FY22 though order intake for most listed companies was weak due to heightened competition from smaller/ unlisted players. Execution to decline or grow moderately for most companies with lower executable backlogs while NCC/KEC are likely to post strong YoY growth. Margins are likely to remain stable QoQ for road developers. Debt levels for diversified companies like NCC, L&T and KEC are likely to decline QoQ led by a surge in year-end recoveries. Major Ports cargo growth was muted at 1.9% YoY due to lower iron ore/coal cargo while container volumes on the West Coast declined by 3.6% YoY. EXIM cargo growth for Concor is likely at 1.8% YoY while remaining relatively strong for GDL at 7.6% led by market share gains.”
The duo expects NCC to report sharp reductions in debt levels aided by year-end recoveries.
In their Q4 preview for NCC, the analysts at Centrum said, “Execution to rebound in Q4FY22 led by strong order backlog. Commentary on recovery of AP receivables key monitorable.” Centrum’s analysts expect NCC to report Q4 revenue of ₹3,035.8 crore up 16% yoy, while EBITDA is seen at ₹334.7 crore up 15.5% yoy and EBITDA margin is forecasted at 11%. Adjusted PAT is expected at ₹145.7 crore rising by 26.1% yoy.
