>SHAREKHAN TOP PICKS

With the late upsurge on September 4, 2009, the benchmark indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, managed to report marginal gains of 1.1% and 2.1% respectively since our last ValueGuide issue dated August 6, 2009. Throughout the month the markets remained in a narrow range. Our basket of stocks performed in line with the market, delivering a 2.1% return during the month. Amongst our picks, Godrej Consumer Products continued its smart upmove and gained 9.8% while our new addition last month, Emco, too delivered handsome returns of 8.8% during the month.

For September 2009, we are making two changes in the portfolio. We are replacing Balrampur Chinni Mills and Lupin with IDBI Bank and Ipca Laboratories. Balrampur Chinni Mills could underperform in the near term due to the expected government intervention to control sugar prices. On the other hand, IDBI Bank could get re-rated on the back of capital infusion by the government, as media reports suggest that the World Bank has approved the proposed loan for recapitalisation of certain public sector banks in India. Our second pick, Ipca Laboratories, is a tactical switch from Lupin within the pharmaceutical space.

• Apollo Tyres
• Bajaj Holdings
• Bharti Airtel
• BHEL
• Emco
• Godrej Consumer
• IDBI Bank
• IPCA Labs
• ITC
• Reliance Industries

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