Billionaire Gautam Adani has seen his fortunes recover nearly $20 billion from a low of $37.7 billion on February 27 to $57.5 billion, as Adani group stocks such as Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy and Adani Power, among others, rebounded post steps taken by the group to allay investor concerns. They included several clarifications and prepaying of loans. At last count, Adani, 60, stood at 21st spot in the Bloomberg Billionaire list.
The group's flagship Adani Enterprises has seen its shares rallying 127 per cent from its 52-week low of Rs 1,017.10 hit on February 3. Adani Green Energy shares are up 86 per cent from a one-year low of Rs 439.35 hit on February 28. Adani Ports & SEZ is up 72.20 per cent from February 3 low of Rs 394.95. Adani Transmission jumped 63 per cent to Rs 1,024.85 from a low of Rs 630 on March 1. Adani Total Gas hit a one-year low of Rs 655 on the same day. This stock is up 37 per cent since then. Adani Wilmar shares have risen 31 per cent from a 52-week low of Rs 327. Adani Power shares are up 22 per cent in the last one month.
Adani, however, is still down $63.10 billion this year, a fall of 52.3 per cent in his notional wealth, thanks to the scathing Hindenburg Research report that alleged stock manipulation and accounting frauds in the group companies.
To allay investor concerns, the group sold Rs 15,446 crore worth of shares in four of its companies to US-based GQG Partners. GQG Partners bought 38,701,168 Adani Enterprises shares at Rs 1,410.86 apiece for Rs 5,460 crore. It purchased 88,600,000 Adani Ports shares at Rs 596.20 apiece for Rs 5,282 crore. In Adani Transmission, it bought 28,400,000 shares at Rs 668.40, totalling Rs 1,898 crore. Besides, it bought 55,600,000 shares of Adani Green Energy at Rs 504.60, valuing Rs 2,806 crore.
Later the embattled Adani Group revealed that it prepaid share-backed financing of Rs 7,374 crore ($901.16 million) to various international banks and Indian financial institutions. The group also held roadshows in Dubai, London, Hong Kong and Singapore, among others.
Besides, it recently cancelled a Rs 7,017 crore coal plant purchase and shelved plans to bid for a stake in power trader PTC India. A report on Sunday emerged that Adani Group has reportedly suspended work on a Rs 34,900 crore petrochemical project in Gujarat's Mundra. In 2021, Gautam Adani-led group's flagship firm Adani Enterprises (AEL) incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary - Mundra Petrochem - for setting up a greenfield coal-to-PVC plant at Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) land in the Kutch district of Gujarat.
Also read: KPIT Tech, ITC, Eris Life: How should you trade these stocks amid volatility