The Hindu Business Line : Biral Midcap: Cement, pharma pruned

Mid-cap stocks that were trounced during the May meltdown took a breather after they came up with positive numbers in the September quarter. Here is a look at Birla Midcap — a fund with a mid-cap orientation — and how it churned its portfolio during the three months ended October 2006.

Biral Midcap favoured sectors such as auto ancillary, banks and consumer non-durables, in which it increased holdings. Petroleum products, telecom, textile products, hardware and hotels were the new entrants to the portfolio.

Sectors that lost weight in the portfolio include cement, consumer durables, industrial capital goods, pesticides, pharma, software and transport. Ferrous metals failed to impress and made an exit. Auto stocks, which experienced some slowdown, were also sold.

Favoured sectors: The auto ancillary space was a mixed bag. While Amtek India and Sundram Fasteners were added afresh to the portfolio, the fund pared exposure to Automobile Corporation of Goa. Rico Auto was the lone stock in the space to make a complete exit. Allahabad Bank and Union Bank of India were sold to pave way for Bank of India, Jammu & Kashmir Bank and Andhra Bank. Indian Overseas Bank underwent some pruning.

In the consumer non-durables space, McDowell was the lone stock to undergo profit booking. Hindustan Sanitaryware and EID Parry were the new faces in the basket. Exposure to GlaxosmithKline Consumer Healthcare was reduced. Asian Hotels and Taj GVK Hotels & Resorts were added to represent the hotel space. Petroleum moved in to corner 2.8 per cent of the portfolio. Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum were the new entrants in the space.

Industrial products occupied the top slot with an increased allocation to the sector. Kirloskar Brothers moved out while Sintex Industries, Cummins, and Greaves Cotton were bought. The capital goods sector, which rode the bull rally until May but took a beating during the correction, was pruned. Holding in Bharat Electronics and Thermax were pared while Kalpataru Power Transmission was added afresh.

Exposure to cement stocks Madras Cements and Birla Corporation remains unchanged while Ultratech Cement was trimmed.

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