Adani stocks see no impact of recent allegations

New Delhi, Sep 9

The total market capitalisation of Adani Group’s listed companies has clawed back to over Rs 11 lakh crore, after an initial knee-jerk reaction post reports by OCCRP, Financial Times and The Guardian.

“It is an indication that the current prices factor in all the negatives and the market is ignoring all the incremental allegations. For the group as well as its investors, it could very well mean that the worst is over,” said experts.

The group’s market capitalisation has increased by 40 per cent in the past three months and the rally is being led by the four leading group stocks -- Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Adani Power and Adani Green Energy. Shares of all four companies have more than doubled from their lows.

While the flagship company AEL’s stock has gained the highest from its lows (up to 150 per cent), Adani Ports and Adani Power, two of the oldest group companies to demerge from the incubator AEL, are at pre-Hindenburg level.

Adani Ports is the most widely-tracked company in the group by analysts and the most widely-owned by institutional investors among all the group stocks. But despite the claims, including those by its outgoing auditors, both analysts and investors have remained positive on the stock.

Equity research arms of Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, Bernstein, Kotak and ICICI have all maintained buy on the stock of India’s largest port operating company.

Market experts who track the group closely said that there are two main reasons for such a strong show by the group stocks.

The group has demonstrated that its businesses are unaffected by all the noise. In the June quarter of FY24, which was also the first quarter after the short-seller report, the group’s portfolio of listed companies delivered a robust performance with each business delivering strong growth.

The combined EBITDA of all the listed companies increased by 42 per cent year-on-year. At the same time, its balance-sheet continued to strengthen. Net debt to EBITDA is now close to 3x and the cash balance is as high at Rs 42,500 crore.

All financial institutions, equity as well as debt investors and rating agencies, foreign as well as domestic, have unfailingly backed the group and its businesses. The group has comfortably raised close to Rs 39,000 crore from institutional investors, including one of the largest sovereign funds, Qatar Investment Authority, in the last six months. On the debt side, it has raised Rs 18,000 crore in the June quarter alone.

Promoters buying shares worth Rs 6,000 crore of Adani Enterprises in August shows the confidence and faith they have in the group’s businesses.