Ashish Kacholia Portfolio: Top 5 Stocks

Want to cook a portfolio that delivers delicious returns? Let us take a sneak peek into the kitchen.

Food cooked by mom is always mouth-watering. You ask your mom how she learned cooking and she will say she can't exactly remember. She watched her mother cook and that is how she learnt.

Some people learn cooking by taking classes. While many also learn it by observing other people cook. You observe the basics and then try to modify the dish as per your taste.

One of the secret strategies for picking good stocks lies here. Just like how you have to observe a good dish being made, you can observe the activities of top investing gurus and then modify their strategies to suit your time horizon and risk-bearing capacity.

When we talk about successful investors in India, it's impossible not to mention Ashish Kacholia.

The Ashish Kacholia portfolio is like a dream portfolio for many investors because of the mouth-watering profits he has earned from a few stocks.

Kacholia is known for identifying the best multibagger stocks. He is known as the 'Big Whale' of the Indian stock market.

Over the years, he has picked the best multibagger stocks by looking at the fastest-growing companies from the midcap and smallcap space.

He started his career with Prime Securities in 1993. In 2003, he started Hungama Digital Entertainment Company along with Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. He is also the proprietor of Lucky Securities.

Let us take a look at Kacholia's current top five stock investments by value. Data is as of September 2022.

#1 Safari Industries (India)

As of September 2022, the shareholding pattern of Safari Industries (India) shows that Ashish Kacholia holds a 2.59% stake in the company or 6.1 lakh shares in total.

Considering Safari Industries' current market price of Rs 1,607.05 as on 22 December 2022, Kacholia's total value in Safari Industries (India) comes to around Rs 987.2 million (m).

Initially, Ashish Kacholia bought 1.7% equity in Safari Industries in November 2019. The deal at that time was valued at Rs 119.9 m. The shares were acquired at a steal deal when they were trading at around Rs 550 per share.

Gradually, Ashish Kacholia increased his stake from 1.7% on March 2020 to 2.59% in September 2022.

Here's how his holding in Safari Industries (India) has varied ever since he acquired the stake in 2019.

Quarter Ending	No of shares	Stake (%)
22-Sep	614,288	2.59
22-Jun	614,288	2.59
22-Mar	614,288	2.59
21-Dec	614,288	2.59
21-Sep	614,288	2.59
21-Jun	601,644	2.54
21-Mar	598,000	2.52
20-Dec	598,000	2.52
20-Sep	589,962	2.64
20-Jun	386,618	1.7
20-Mar	383,415	1.7

Data Source: BSE

Between this time duration, i.e. from November 2019 to November 2022, the share price has rallied over 200%.

Many factors were responsible for the company's growth trajectory.

The company is popular for selling travel bags. Hence its business was impacted because of the lockdown. However, the travel sector boomed because of demand revival and an increase in consumers' confidence.

The demand for backpacks, ladies' handbags, and school bags rebounded strongly as normalcy resumed and Safari was a big beneficiary.

The management indicated growth was on account of an increase in domestic leisure travel, marriage season, corporate gifting, and gradual re-opening of schools and colleges.

Going forward, the company may face some hurdles in the near term as Covid cases in China have started to rise. Resultantly, tourism and travel sectors will be negatively impacted.

#2 Shaily Engineering Plastics

The second stock where Kacholia has a significant exposure is Shaily Engineering Plastics.

As of September 2022, the shareholding pattern of Shaily Engineering Plastics shows that Ashish Kacholia holds a 6.54% stake in the company or 5.9 lakh shares in total.

Considering Shaily Engineering Plastics' current market price of Rs 1,657.15 as on 22 December 2022, Ashish Kacholia's total value in the company comes to around Rs 993.8 m.

Initially, Kacholia bought 295,000 shares of Shaily Engineering Plastics in February 2018 at a price of Rs 963.51. From June 2018 to September 2022, his shareholding in the company has remained intact.

Here's how his holding has varied ever since he acquired the stake in 2018.

Quarter Ending	No of shares	Stake (%)
22-Sep	599,696	6.54
22-Jun	599,696	6.54
22-Mar	599,696	6.54
21-Dec	599,696	6.54
21-Sep	599,696	6.54
21-Jun	599,696	7.21
21-Mar	599,696	7.21
20-Dec	599,696	7.21
20-Sep	599,696	7.21
20-Jun	599,696	7.21
20-Mar	599,696	7.21
19-Dec	599,696	7.21
19-Sep	599,696	7.21
19-Jun	599,696	7.21
19-Mar	599,696	7.21
18-Dec	599,696	7.21
18-Sep	599,696	7.21
18-Jun	599,696	7.21
18-Mar	460,785	5.5

Data Source: BSE

During the same period, shares of Shaily Engineering Plastics have rallied 79%.

Immediately after he bought a stake in the company, the share price saw a sharp fall in the leading months. However, Kacholia kept faith in the company and did not alter his position.

Shaily Engineering has given a stellar financial performance in the past five years.

A growing order book in home furnishing segment, unique product offerings and impetus towards efficiencies in the medical segment, and steady demand trajectory in other verticals (auto, FMCG, lighting) would be the factors to watch out for.

In the recent years, the company has successfully diversified into new streams like healthcare (drug delivery devices), carbon steel, toys etc, while keeping a healthy balance sheet. The healthcare division, that enjoys better margins, is expected to grow 2 to 3 times.

It supplies products to IKEA. Exports constitute nearly 70-80% of the company's annual turnover. Around 30-35% of the world's leading original equipment manufacturers procure supplies from the company.

While the company's long term debt has been growing, it is pertinent to note that the debt-to-equity ratio has remained below 1.

A couple of quarters ago, FIIs did not hold any stake in the company. Today, they hold over 7% stake.

In the near term, the company expects some softening in demand due to challenging global macroeconomic environment and tends to streamline its inventories and manufacturing accordingly.

#3 NIIT

Third on the list is NIIT.

As of September 2022, the shareholding pattern of NIIT shows that Ashish Kacholia holds a 2.23% stake in the company or 3 m shares in total.

Considering NIIT's current market price of Rs 301.8 as on 22 December 2022, Ashish Kacholia's total value in the company comes to around Rs 905.4 m.

Initially, Kacholia bought 4,277,417 shares of NIIT between April 2018 to June 2018.

Here's how his holding in NIIT has varied ever since he acquired a stake in 2018.

Quarter Ending	No of shares	Stake (%)
22-Sep	3,000,000	2.23
22-Jun	3,000,000	2.24
22-Mar	3,000,000	2.24
21-Dec	3,000,000	2.24
21-Sep	3,000,000	2.25
21-Jun	3,000,000	2.26
21-Mar	3,582,835	2.52
20-Dec	3,582,835	2.52
20-Sep	3,582,835	2.52
20-Jun	3,582,835	2.52
20-Mar	3,582,835	2.52
19-Dec	3,582,835	2.52
19-Sep	4,807,992	2.86
19-Jun	4,807,992	2.87
19-Mar	4,768,186	2.85
18-Dec	4,768,186	2.85
18-Sep	4,768,186	2.85
18-Jun	4,277,417	2.57

Data Source: BSE

After Kacholia invested in the company, NIIT share price traded in range bound manner for a long time. It wasn't until after mid-2021 that the share price started moving.

NIIT is virtually a debt-free company.

For the financial year 2019-20, NIIT reported a sharp jump in profit to Rs 13,272 m, which is a big jump compared to the loss of Rs 74 m reported in the previous year.

To move in tandem with the financial results, the share price also rallied. The share price rally was fuelled by favourable market conditions.

The rally continued for some time. However, with the beginning of 2022 and the onset of market correction, the share price fell. On a YTD basis the share price fell by 36%. Both of its businesses, corporate learning group (CLG) and skills and careers (SNC), have grown at a fast pace. From a growth projection point of view, the CLG group's business has a strong order book which will benefit NIIT in the coming quarters.

The CLG business has been growing at an average of around 20% per year. The management expects the SNC business to grow by over 50% in the next year.

#4 PCBL

Next on the list is PCBL (Philips Carbon Black).

As of September 2022, the shareholding pattern of PCBL shows that Ashish Kacholia holds a 1.87% stake in the company or 7.1 m shares in total.

Considering PCBL's current market price of Rs 127.5 as on 22 December 2022, Ashish Kacholia's total value in the company comes to around Rs 900 m.

Initially, Kacholia bought 2,502,495 shares of PCBL between January 2021 to March 2021.

Here's how his holding in PCBL has varied ever since he acquired a stake in 2021.

Quarter Ending	No of shares	Stake (%)
22-Sep	7,056,713	1.87
22-Jun	5,004,990	1.33
22-Mar	2,502,495	1.33
21-Dec	2,502,495	1.33
21-Sep	2,502,495	1.45
21-Jun	2,502,495	1.45
21-Mar	2,502,495	1.45

Data Source: BSE

After Ashish Kacholia bought a stake in PCBL, its share price hasn't seen much of an upside. In fact, from March 2021 to 20 December 2022, PCBL share price fell by 27%

In its latest quarterly results, PCBL reported a fall in profits, as higher costs offset robust sales of the tire strengthening material.

A spike in crude oil prices following the Russia-Ukraine war and accompanying inflationary pressures have resulted in increased costs of production for carbon black.

Thus despite increasing revenues, its profit fell because of a spike in the price of its raw materials.

As soon as the international price of crude oil and petroleum products cool down, we could see an improvement in its quarterly profits.

#5 Rainbow Children's Medicare

The last company on this list is the recently listed Rainbow Children's Medicare.

As of September 2022, the shareholding pattern of Rainbow Children's Medicare shows that Ashish Kacholia holds a 1.03% stake in the company or 1 m shares in total.

Considering Rainbow Children's Medicare's current market price of Rs 707.2 as on 22 December 2022, Ashish Kacholia's total value in the company comes to around Rs 738.5 m.

Kacholia bought 1,044,211 shares of Rainbow Children's Medicare between July 2022 to September 2022.

Rainbow Children's Medicare share price slowly saw a spike after Ashish Kacholia bought the stock.

The share price started rallying after posting is quarterly results ended on 30 June 2022.

For the quarter that ended 30 June 2022, Rainbow Children's Medicare witnessed strong growth across all key operating metrics like occupancy, outpatient & inpatient volumes, across hospitals in every geography.

Consequently, the company delivered its best-ever quarterly revenue, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), and profit after tax (PAT) numbers.

Even if we take a look at the figures of September 2022, the revenue and net profit figures have seen a decent rise.

Historically, due to the rainy season, second quarter witnesses higher occupancy, higher patient footfalls and relatively robust financial performance and the case mix are inclined towards the secondary care paediatrics.

This shift in the case mix results in higher occupancy with commensurate moderation in average revenue per occupied bed (ARPOB).

Unlike stocks like Nykaa, Zomato, and the likes, Rainbow Children's Medicare did not see a sharp fall after the expiry of the IPO lock-in period.

The company has opted for the asset light model to keep the cost under control.

It expects the market to grow by 12-14% and it plans to beat the market by achieving a growth of 18% for fiscal 2023.

Currently, it earns around 2% of revenue from international business. It plans to take it up to 5-6% in the coming 4-5 years.

It plans on adding 1,000 beds in the next five years at a cost of around Rs 6,000-7,000 m. It expects to spend Rs 200-250 m on maintenance capex.

Currently, it owns 10% of the total beds, and it plans on owning 30-35% of beds in the coming five to six years.

Which other stocks has Ashish Kacholia invested in?

Apart from the above, here are some other stocks which Ashish Kacholia has invested in as of September 2022.

Please note, the source of holdings listed below is Ace Equity and it may or may not be a complete list of holdings.

Company Name	No of Shares	Percentage (%)
Fineotex Chemical Ltd.	2,924,072	2.64
AMI Organics Ltd.	776,474	2.13
La Opala RG Ltd.	1,767,433	1.59
Vaibhav Global Ltd.	2,000,000	1.21
Garware Hi-Tech Films Ltd.	924,577	3.98
Gravita India Ltd.	1,351,649	1.96
SJS Enterprises Ltd.	1,169,839	3.84
Barbeque-Nation Hospitality Ltd.	557,510	1.43
Xpro India Ltd.	779,350	4.4
Best Agrolife Ltd.	345,392	1.46

Data Source: Ace Equity

We hope that taking a look at the top stocks owned by Ashish Kacholia will help you make your own investment decision.

Recently we also wrote to you about Vijay Kedia Portfolio top 5 stocks. Stay tuned to get more updates on investment gurus as we cover more such pieces in the coming weeks.

Happy investing.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such. Learn more about our recommendation services here...