NEW DELHI: The crisis in Adani Group stocks deepened further on Wednesday, with all 10 stocks from billionaire Gautam Adani’s empire ending in the red. Today’s loss in market valuation was worth around Rs 51,294 crore.
The ports-to-power conglomerate’s flagship entity Adani Enterprises was the top loser in the pack and ended 10.4% down. Five other group stocks – Adani Transmission, Adani Total Gas, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar, and Adani Green – were locked in their 5% lower circuit limits.
Since the release of the Hindenburg report on January 25, the combined market capitalisation of all 10 Adani stocks have so far lost around Rs 11.62 lakh crore to Rs 7.58 lakh crore. In less than a month, Adani stocks have lost 60% of their value.
Wall Street short-seller Hindenburg Research had warned against price manipulation and accounting fraud by the group. Market regulator Sebi, which is already probing allegations made against the Adani Group, has now sought details of all ratings of local loans and securities of group companies from credit rating firms.
Sebi told rating companies last week to share information, which would include all outstanding ratings, outlook, and possible updates from any discussions with officials of the business group, according to a report in ET.
Under fire from several quarters in the aftermath of the Hindenburg report, Adani has been trying to soothe investor nerves by prepaying loans and focusing on cash conservation.
Adani Transmission has told investors that it will announce debt refinancing plans in a few weeks, while Adani Ports plans to prepay Rs 1,000 crore in commercial papers maturing in March.
In a 106-page long report on January 25, Hindenburg alleged that Adani was pulling the largest con in corporate history with a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme. Adani Group, in its defence, has described all allegations as “a calculated attack on India”.
In a compendium filed with exchanges, the conglomerate said it has “no material refinancing risk and near-term liquidity requirement as there is no near-term significant debt maturity.” Citing rating affirmation from international and domestic rating agencies, it also said: “signifies the underlying credit quality with an adequate financial profile.”
