Plenty of good bets in high beta cyclical space: Kunj Bansal, Centrum Wealth Management

In a chat with ET Now, Kunj Bansal, ED & CIO, Centrum Wealth Management, shares his views on JP Associates, GMR and the cement space.

ET Now: Let's discuss JP Associates. Everything in the beta space has gone up, but JP Associates has not participated in this up move. They still have big critical mass, and large cement capacities. They are going all out to fix their balance sheet. They have got operating power plants, their construction business is doing okay and they are sitting on considerable real estate and land bank. How come markets are not taking notice of all this?

Kunj Bansal: Frankly, I have no idea why. I largely agree with you that this is one stock which has not participated as much in the beta rally as other high beta stocks. May be the market is expecting a lot of uncertainties as far as the company is concerned. That could be one possible reason.

But frankly, it is a difficult call. I have no clue.

ET Now: You do not own JP Associates?

Kunj Bansal: No.

ET Now: Why is that?

Kunj Bansal: No specific reason, but within the high beta cyclical space we feel there are many other good investment opportunities. We own some such bets and will continue to own them. Among the large caps we prefer L&T. If you ask me about the cement space, I would say UltraTech and Ramco. They look good at this point of time.

In infrastructure we have GMR Infra. It is more of a call on cyclical recovery. The numbers for last few quarters and the current balance sheet position are not comforting, but if one wants to take a call, one can bank on the company's fine business model, track record and delivery by the management.

ET Now: Let me remind you that GMR is sitting on Rs 20000 crore.

Kunj Bansal: Almost all the companies are like that. But when it comes to taking a call, one has to choose a management which has been reasonable on delivery in terms of track record, and a business model which looks stronger than the others you are looking at.