5 December 2019
India Capital Growth Fund Limited (the "Company" or "ICGF")
Net Asset Value statement at 29 November 2019
Net Asset Value
The Company announces its Net Asset Value per share as at 29 November 2019 was 90.89 pence.
In November the Net Asset Value (NAV) was unchanged in Sterling terms, whilst the BSE MidCap Total Return Index was up 0.3%, delivering an under performance against the notional benchmark of 0.3%. In local currency terms, the NAV was up 1.3% for the month.
Portfolio update
Positive contribution to the portfolio's performance was driven by Indusind Bank (up 19.5%), Ramkrishna Forgings (up 23.4%) and Federal Bank (up 6.1%). The negative contribution mainly stemmed from Berger Paints (down 5.8%), Sagar Cement (down 11.3%) and Skipper (down 11.6%).
Market and economic update
Indian Equity markets continued to climb in November with the BSE Sensex and BSE MidCap Total Return indices up 1.7% and 1.6% respectively (in Indian Rupees) on the back of a deceleration in geopolitical risk and the Government's major strategic disinvestment push that includes Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Container Corporation of India, and the Shipping Corporation of India. This is will help the Government ability to support growth in the midst of a slowdown. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers (US$3bn) and domestic institutions were net sellers (US$1.1bn) for the month. The Indian Rupee depreciated by 1.1% against the US Dollar and 1.3% against Pound Sterling.
India's 2QFY20 GDP growth slowed down further to 4.5% due to a fall in gross fixed capital formation growth 1% (owing to weak demand conditions partially explained by the Monsoon and a high base effect) compared to 11.8% in the same quarter last year. A positive contribution came from a revival in government consumption after being muted in the election period as well as a rise in private consumption helped by the festival season. Within industry; manufacturing, construction, agriculture and services all saw a slowdown in year-on-year growth. Following the corporate tax rate cut in September, the Government has continued to take steps to revive the economy including a US$4bn booster package for the real estate sector.
Consumer Price Inflation rose to 4.6% in October (vs 4.0% last month) .The increase was primarily led by a spike in vegetable prices on account of strong unseasonal rains that have likely caused supply disruptions. Headline CPI printed above the RBI's inflation target of 4% for the first time in 15 months, and this coincided with a pause in interest rate cuts announced in the December committee meeting. The minutes indicate that, despite the pause, they remain accommodative to further easing should the system need it. The focus will now be on monitoring transmission of the 135bps of cuts that have taken place since February.
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