Porinju Veliyath, the brains behind Equity Intelligence India, is not your average investor. This Indian fund manager has made a name for himself by betting against the crowd and digging deep to find undervalued gems in the stock market.
His bold calls and unconventional strategies have paid off handsomely, making him a well-known figure in Indian investing circles. Veliyath is not shy about sharing his thoughts either – he is a regular on the media circuit and keeps his followers updated on his views through social media.
He recently bought into 2 companies and the move has created ripples in the investment circles.
Let us dig in to see what it in these companies is that could have grabbed Porinju’s attention.
Praxis Home Retail Ltd (PHRL)
Praxis Home Retail Ltd, incorporated in 2011, is in the business of Home Retailing through departmental stores, under various formats.
With a market cap of Rs 195 cr, PHRL operates brick-and-mortar stores of home furniture and home fashion under the brand name ”HomeTown” and caters to the home retail segment in India.
Porinju’s decision to buy a stake in PHRL under his wife Litty Thomas’s name is surprising. Mainly because PHRL is incurring losses for the past many years and its entire net worth has eroded. Also, its current liabilities exceed its current assets.
He has bough 10,00,000 shares of PHRL on the 21st of February 2025 at Rs 13.10, making it a total transaction value of Rs 1,31,00,000. In the past, he held 1.06% stake in the company through Equity Intelligence India Private Ltd, which was sold as per filings made for September 2022.
PHRL’s sales are also something that makes the question mark just bigger on why Porinju bought into the company. Sales have fallen from Rs 683 cr in FY19 to Rs 220 cr in FY2024. This is a drop of 68%.
Even between April 2024 and December 2024, the company has been able to make sales of just Rs 92 cr, raising speculations of a possible bad last quarter and eventually a bad financial year.
The EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) has also been in the negative for PHRL. In FY19 it was a negative Rs 22cr and in FY24,
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