Six Adani Group stocks locked in 5% lower circuit; ACC hits 52-week low

All ten Adani group shares tumbled on Tuesday with six of them locked in their respective lower circuits. 

Shares of Adani Ports shed 9 per cent to their intra-day low, while Adani Enterprises, ACC and Ambuja Cements dipped 4-8 per cent to touch the day’s lows on the BSE.

Of these, ACC hit a fresh 52-week low of Rs 1,604, having slid below its previous low of Rs 1,659.25, touched on February 27, 2023. Others including Adani Power, Adani Transmission, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, NDTV and Adani Wilmar were frozen in their respective 5 per cent lower circuits. 

The slide in the stocks resumed after a report by The Ken claimed that the Adani group has not completely repaid its loans taken against the promoters' shares. 

“Despite the Adani Group's claim of ‘complete’ repayment of $2.15 billion in share-backed debt, regulatory filings show that banks have not released a significant portion of the promoters' shares held as collateral, indicating that the debt has not been fully paid off,” the report said. 

It added that banks and listed firms are obligated to disclose the release of shares to exchanges upon repayment of the debt, but neither banks nor listed Adani companies have made such disclosures. 

On March 12, Adani Group announced that it completed full prepayment of margin linked share backed financing of around $2.15 billion, well before the committed timeline of March 31, 2023.

"The promoters have also prepaid $500 million facility taken for Ambuja acquisition financing. This is in line with promoters’ commitment to increase equity contribution and promoters have now infused $2.6 billion out of the total acquisition value of $6.6 billion for Ambuja and ACC", the group had said.

However, another report today said that the group is seeking some more time to repay the debt associated with Ambuja Cements and ACC.

"The Adani Group is seeking to renegotiate the terms of outstanding loans worth $4 billion taken in August last year for the acquisition of its cement assets - ACC and Ambuja Cements - from Switzerland-based Holcim group" said the Economic Times in a report quoting sources. 

Today's sharp selloff follows Monday’s decline, wherein over Rs 300 billion of the group’s market capitalisation (mcap) had been eroded. As of Monday’s close, the group has lost nearly Rs 15 trillion in mcap as against the record-high of Rs 24 trillion in October last year.

Meanwhile, The Ken in its report said that post Adani’s prepayment announcement, banks have only released the pledged shares of Adani Ports & SEZ.
 

"The pledged shares of Adani Green and Adani Transmission have not been released by banks even a month after the loan repayment. This is highly unusual as pledged shares are usually released immediately after the borrower settles their debts," it said.

Since the release of a scathing report by Hindenburg Research two months back, which accused the Adani group of stock manipulation, accounting fraud, and improper use of offshore tax havens, the group has taken several measures to regain investor trust.

The group has conducted roadshows to convince investors, prepaid debts and sold stake to US-based GQG Partners in a Rs 15,000 crore deal in an attempt to arrest the selloff in its shares.