Most of Adani Group stocks plunged sharply on Wednesday, wiping out around Rs 7.4 lakh crore from the group’s market capitalisation (m-cap) in five consecutive trading sessions. The stocks began falling after a report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research alleged that the Indian conglomerate had engaged in stock manipulation and accounting frauds over the last few decades. Adani Group, however, refuted the allegations as baseless.
Further, all of the 10 listed Adani Group stocks (including recently acquired ACC, Ambuja Cements and NDTV) fell sharply today after a report claimed that Credit Suisse had stopped accepting bonds of Adani companies as collateral for margin loans to its private banking clients.
Following these claims, the combined m-cap of the Adani Group stocks dived Rs 7.44 lakh crore to Rs 11.76 lakh crore today from Rs 19.20 lakh crore (closing value of January 24).
On the stock-specific front, four (Adani Total Gas, Adani Wilmar, Adani Power, and NDTV) out of 10 listed Adani Group companies finally settled at their respective lower price bands on BSE today. (10 listed Adani stocks include recently acquired ACC, Ambuja Cements and NDTV.)
The group’s flagship firm, Adani Enterprises, crashed 28.45 per cent to close at Rs 2,128.70. Adani Ports also took a massive hit and slumped 19.69 per cent to close at Rs 492.15. Ambuja Cements and Adani Total Gas plunged 16.56 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, while ACC and Adani Green energy slipped 6.34 per cent and 5.78 per cent.
Adani Power, Adani Power and NDTV tanked 5 per cent, each. In addition, Adani Transmission fell 2.46 per cent today.
Adani Group has said that timing of the Hindenburg report’s publication clearly showed the short seller’s intention to damage “the follow-on public offering from Adani Enterprises, which is the biggest FPO ever in India.”
The Rs 20,000 crore FPO from Adani Enterprises got sailed through and was fully subscribed after high-net-worth individuals and institutional investors bid strongly. Though, the offer received poor to tepid response from retail investors and employees.
Meanwhile, Indian equity benchmarks ended mixed amid highly volatile trade. “Well-tuned Budget with a strong emphasis on consumption and capex has lifted optimism in the market. However, volatility sparked in the later half as focus shifted back to the Adani saga,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
The 30-share BSE Sensex pack rose 158 points or 0.27 per cent to close at 59,708; while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 46 points or 0.26 per cent down to settle at 17,616.
