Gautam Adani was the world's third and Asia's richest man a month back but a damning report by a US firm triggered a massive sell-off in shares of his apples-to-airport group, plunging his own wealth by $80 billion and the tycoon slipping to No.30 on the world billionaire index. Adani's sprawling conglomerate, which spans from sea ports to airports, edible oil and commodities, energy, cement and data centres, is under attack by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which successfully deflated electric-vehicle maker Nikola Motors in 2020. Hindenburg, which held short positions in unidentified shares of Adani Group firms through its US-traded debt and offshore derivatives, on January 24 accused the conglomerate of "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud" and using a number of offshore shell companies to inflate stock prices.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty Next 50 Index could undergo large-scale changes if the proposed tweaks to its computation methodology get implemented. In a discussion paper floated recently, NSE Indices, which owns and manages a portfolio of over 350 indices under the Nifty brand, proposed that only stocks that are traded in the futures and options (F&O) segment can be part of the index. Currently, as many as 11 non-F&O stocks are part of the Nifty Next 50 Index, which, as the name suggests, represents the next rung of large and liquid securities after the Nifty50.
Embattled Adani group has appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton for an independent audit of some of its companies in a bid to come clean of the damning allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research and to assure investors and regulators. Sources said the audit is primarily to show to regulators like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the group has nothing to hide and it is in compliance with relevant laws. The audit will specifically look into if there was any misappropriation or repatriation of funds and if loans were used for any purpose other than the one they were intended for.
India's equity markets are on a roller-coaster ride, after delivering spectacular returns for two consecutive years - in 2020 and 2021. The benchmark National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) Nifty50 is down 1.5 per cent in the first nine months of the current calendar year 2022 (CY22) as foreign portfolio investors sold Indian stocks due to rising bond yields in the US and across global markets, including India. The sell-off in the Indian equity markets has, however, not been broad-based and largely limited to sectors facing earnings headwinds from rising interest rates, lower commodity and energy prices, and likely economic recession in advanced economies.
Earnings growth, attractive valuations and change in FPI flows from negative to positive over the next 12 months are some of the key triggers for an upside. "A poor monsoon, high inflation and further rate hike are some of the key risks
Zerodha and True Beacon co-founder Nikhil Kamath, along with Abhijeet Pai, has invested in Omnipresent Robot Tech through their investment arm Gruhas Proptech. This round also saw co-investments from Kavin Shah, and other individual high networth individual (HNIs), according to a statement released on Thursday. However, the amount invested by Kamath and Pai has not been disclosed.
With most Adani Group shares locked in lower-circuit in early morning trade based on news that accounts of three foreign portfolio investors, heavily invested into group companies, were frozen by the National Security Depository Limited, market experts advise caution that investors should not jump in now to buy at lower levels.
Shares of Adani group companies witnessed a massive drubbing in morning trade on Monday, tumbling up to 25 per cent, amid reports that the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) has frozen certain FPIs accounts that have holding in some of these firms.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's embattled conglomerate said its balance sheet is "very healthy" and is laser focused on continuing business momentum, as it looked to reassure investors to keep faith in the conglomerate despite a share rout triggered by a damning report by a US short-seller. Group CFO Jugeshinder (Robbie) Singh in an earnings call said the group is confident of its internal controls, compliance and corporate governance. Separately, it released a compendium of group companies to highlight that it has adequate cash reserves and has ability to refinance debt.
Two firms belonging to the Adani group - India's most valued conglomerate - are part of the Nifty 50 index. The group, however, has no representation in the Sensex. And it could stay this way if a proposed index qualification rule change gets approved. Recently, Asia Index, a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE responsible for index composition, floated a consultation paper where it proposed that a stock must have a derivative contract to be eligible for inclusion in the flagship 30-share Sensex index.
Mr Adani has a fight on his hands. It is not a fight to the death, asserts T N Ninan.
Shares of Adani group companies witnessed a massive drubbing in morning trade on Monday, tumbling up to 25 per cent, amid reports that the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) has frozen certain FPIs accounts that have holding in some of these firms.
Two Adani group companies -- Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission -- have uprooted the traditional leader Reliance Industries in annual wealth creation in 2022 so far, while the top 100 of them created a massive Rs 92.2 lakh crore of wealth, according to a report. However, Reliance Industries has smashed all records to emerge as the largest wealth creator during the five-year period ending March 2022, says the leading brokerage Motilal Oswal in its 27th annual wealth creation study. The Gautam Adani group companies have been rallying to dizzying heights in the year as the group snapped up many assets and diversified into newer areas.
Adani Wilmar (AWL) joined the elite group of companies with market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 1 trillion after the stock of Gautam Adani-led edible oil company hit a new high of Rs 802.80, up 5 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday's trade.
Shares of the six listed Adani group stocks tumbled for the fourth day on Thursday, resulting in Rs 1.59 trillion market cap loss this week. Adani Power, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission hit their 5 per cent lower trading limit for a fourth straight day.
The Adani Group has overtaken Mukesh Ambani Group to become the country's second biggest business group in terms of market cap behind Tatas. Adani Group cos now have a combined m-cap of Rs 19.44 trillion against Ambani Group cos combined m-cap of Rs 17.89 trillion. Tata Group leads the league table with the group market capitalisation of Rs 21.73 trillion on Monday. The Adani Group companies, however, continue to out-perform firms from business groups and the broader market on the bourses by a big margin.
In our mystery the watchdog agencies are silent, but it is the market that has barked and has not stopped barking. Till such time as it continues to do so, this headache will not go away, notes Aakar Patel.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and Adani Green Energy are the other two Adani Group firms to have crossed the Rs 1-trillion mark in m-cap.
In the context of market integrity, the IRAI and RBI should go over the minutes of the LIC and SBI board meetings when the decisions to invest in Adani equity or debt were taken, notes Jaimini Bhagwati, former World Bank treasury professional.
Amid a political furore over a meltdown in the Adani group shares, stock market data shows it is not only the plunge now but the sharp surge of the past also drew regulatory attention and enhanced surveillance. Adani group stocks have taken a huge beating on the bourses, losing billions of dollars in market value, after US-based activist short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group. The Adani group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
So far the government has been silent on the charges being levelled, even after the stock price rout. Perhaps it is hoping for the share price to settle so that the matter goes away, predicts Aakar Patel.
'Only if the Budget springs some surprises we may see a halt in the selling.'
Edible oil major Adani Wilmar Ltd (AWL) on Monday filed the draft red herring prospectus with markets regulator Sebi for an initial public offer to raise up to Rs 4,500 crore. The company, which sells cooking oils under the Fortune brand, is a major player in the edible oil industry.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd climbed two spots to No. 53 on Forbes' latest Global 2000 list of public companies worldwide. Forbes Global 2000 ranks the largest companies in the world using four metrics: sales, profits, assets and market value, Forbes said releasing the 2022 ranking of the world's top 2,000 companies. Reliance is the top-ranked Indian firm on the list, followed by State Bank of India at No. 105, HDFC Bank at No. 153 and ICICI Bank at No. 204.
During the debate on the 'Motion of Thanks on the President's Address', Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman strongly objected to 'insinuations' against the prime minister, who was also present in the House.
Capital markets regulator Sebi has kept the proposed Rs 4,500-crore initial share-sale of edible oil major Adani Wilmar Ltd (AWL) in "abeyance". However, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) did not clarify further. The company had filed preliminary papers with Sebi on August 3, to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group on Monday said it has written confirmation that accounts of three foreign funds that are among its top shareholders are not frozen and reports to the contrary are "blatantly erroneous and misleading". Shares of Adani group companies plunged on Monday after reports that the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) froze the accounts of the three foreign funds that are among the top stakeholders in the firms. Adani Enterprises, the conglomerate's flagship company, as also Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Green Energy Ltd, Adani Transmission Ltd, Adani Power and Adani Total Gas Ltd in identical filings to the stock exchanges said the reports of NSDL freezing accounts of Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund and APMS Investment Fund holding shares in the group firms were "blatantly erroneous and is done to deliberately mislead the investing community."
Gautam Adani, India's and Asia's second-richest person, added $49 billion to his wealth last year - more than the net addition of wealth by the top three global billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault, the 2022 M3M Hurun Global Rich List said on Wednesday. Mukesh Ambani, who runs the oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries, continues to be the richest Indian with a wealth of $103 billion, a 24 per cent rise year-on-year. Adani, the head of ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group, is a close second with his wealth surging 153 per cent to $81 billion.
French oil and energy group Total has agreed to a $2.5 billion deal that includes buying a 20 per cent minority stake in Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) from Adani Group, as it builds up its presence in the renewable energy sector. The deal involves Paris-based Total getting a board seat in the largest solar energy developer in the world, as well as a 50 per cent stake in a 2.35 gigawatts portfolio of operating solar assets, the two firms said in statements. Total had in 2018, agreed to buy a 37.4 per cent stake in Adani Gas Ltd - the city gas distribution firm of the Adani Group, and a 50 per cent stake in the billionaire Gautam Adani-run ports-to-energy conglomerate's under-construction Dhamra LNG project in Odisha.
Thanks to a continued rise in the market capitalisation of the Adani Group companies, its promoter Gautam Adani is now the second richest Asian and fourteenth richest businessman in the world with a networth of $66.5 billion. Reliance Industries promoter Mukesh Ambani remains the wealthiest businessman in Asia with a networth of around $76.5 billion, according to Bloomberg data. The six Adani Group companies had combined market capitalisation of Rs 8.36 trillion as on Thursday, against Reliance Industries' market capitalisation of Rs 12.6 trillion. Adani Green tops the charts in the group with m-cap with Rs 1.99 trillion.
Owing to a big rise in the market capitalisation of group companies such as Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission, the group promoters, the Gautam Adani family, have closed the wealth gap with Mukesh Ambani, the promoter and owner of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Ambani continues to top India's billionaire league table. The Ambani family's net worth was estimated to be Rs 8.06 trillion (around $108 billion) on Tuesday against the Rs 6.87 trillion (around $92 billion) of the Adani family.
Gautam Adani on Tuesday said his ports-to-energy conglomerate never slowed or stopped investing in the country as the group's success is based on its alignment with the India growth story. Speaking at the annual shareholder meeting of the group companies, he said the previously announced $70 billion investment in new energy business will help turn India from being a net importer of oil and gas to an exporter of clean energy. "Never have we walked away from investing in India, never have we slowed our investments," he said. "We believe our scale, our diversified business, and our track record of performance positions us very strongly to continue to perform well in a variety of market conditions."
The biggest jump in earnings and decline in P/E multiples has occurred with top companies in metals and mining, corporate banking, and the oil and gas sectors.
Weeks after confusion over three Mauritius-based funds whipsawing shares of Adani group firms, billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday said that "twisted narrative" seems to imply that companies have regulatory powers over their shareholders and can compel disclosures. Shares of port-to-energy group nosedived last month after reports that accounts of three of the six Mauritius-based funds that have invested most of their money in Adani group firms had been frozen by the national share depository. The three funds owned about $6 billion of shares across the conglomerate.
Foreign investment firms, especially private equity, are jittery about the Indian market as uncertainty continues to shroud the energy sector.
The firm is on course to replace state-owned Gail India in the widely-followed index during the semi-annual review set for March.
The laggards include FMCG (16 per cent), Energy (37 per cent) and Media (34 per cent).
The clarification by the National Securities Depository (NSDL) - which is tasked with monitoring foreign portfolio investor (FPI) investment in domestic stocks - that the accounts of top investors in Adani group stocks remain 'active' has helped prevent a $500-million selloff of shares. Analysts said a freeze of the FPI accounts, as reported by some media outlets, could have prompted global index providers to cut weighting of four Adani group companies from their global indices. Brian Freitas, an analyst at independent research provider Smartkarma, said if the FPI accounts were indeed frozen, FTSE and MSCI would have reduced weighting of Adani group companies at the next rebalance, since it would have meant that the large part of the free float was not tradeable.
The Adani group struck first coal from its Carmichael, Australia project on Thursday and will start shipping to its customers according to schedule. With this, the project will not only lift the economic prospects of the hitherto barren Australian outback, but also help Indian power plants to source cheap coal. The project had faced protests from a section of population with several banks even refusing to fund it. The group, however, went ahead with the project which included construction of a brand new railway line connecting an Australian port to the mine -- situated 300 kilometers away in Queensland.
Smaller stocks continue to shine at the bourses. The BSE MidCap index is up 18 per cent since the beginning of January this year against a 5 per cent rise in the Sensex during the period. With the current rally, the mid-cap index has doubled in value since the end of March 2020 against a 70 per cent rally in the Sensex during the period. On Tuesday, the mid-cap index closed at 21,232, as compared to 17,941 at the end of December 2020. In the same period, the benchmark index moved from 47,751 to 50,193.
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