Gautam Adani-led Group stocks bled up to 20 per cent during the trading session on Thursday with a number of these high beta counters hitting lower circuits for the day. Amid this sharp selloff, investors of 10-listed Adani Group counters lost more than as much as Rs 2.60 lakh crore at the opening tick.
Adani stocks were tumbling sharply lower on Thursday after US prosecutors indicted billionaire Gautam Adani and seven other senior business executives in connection with an alleged $250 million bribery scheme that they said was concealed from US investors.
The total market capitalization of all 10-listed Adani Group companies tumbled to Rs 11,91,557.79 crore on Thursday, which stood at Rs 14,24,432.35 lakh crore on Tuesday. It means the investors lost about Rs 2.60 lakh crore in the early session.
Adani Enterprises Ltd, the flagship company of the Adani Group, was the biggest loser. It hit the third daily circuit of 20 per cent to Rs 2,256.2 on Thursday, from its previous close at Rs 2,820.2 on Tuesday. The total market cap of the largest Adani Group firm was down Rs 61,096.85 crore to Rs 2,60,406.26 for the day.
Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd, another Nifty50 constituent from Adani Group, tumbled 20 per cent to Rs 1,031.25 for the day. Its total market capitalization was down by Rs 55,688 crore for the day. Adani Green Energy Ltd was the next biggest loser in terms of market cap wipeout. The stock tumbled more than 19 per cent to erase Rs 42,887.68 crore from its valuations.
Adani Power Ltd, which was down 18 per cent for the day, lost nearly Rs 36,000 crore of market cap. Similarly, shares of Adani Energy Solutions, previously known as Adani Transmission Ltd, were locked in the lower circuit limit of 20 per cent, giving up Rs 21,000 crore from its valuation. Adani Wilmar Ltd was down 10 per cent, with a loss of Rs 4,289 crore in the market cap.
Acquired entities, including Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd, were down 18 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. The former lost Rs 20,296 crore of market cap, while the latter saw an erosion of Rs 5,700 crore in market cap on Thursday. The smallest Adani Group counter, New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV), dropped over 14 per cent, and its market cap was down by Rs 157 crore for the day.
The United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a criminal indictment and brought a civil complaint, respectively, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, against our Board members, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, said Adani Green Energy in its statement.
“The United States Department of Justice have also included our Board member, Vneet Jaain, in such a criminal indictment. In light of these developments, our subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD denominated bond offerings,” it added.
In other news, units of Adani Group scrapped a $600 million dollar bond on Thursday after US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani, the group founder, with participating in an alleged bribe plot, reported Bloomberg. The group’s existing US-currency notes plunged in Asian trading, it said.
Also read: Adani Green Scraps $600M Bond Plans
In fact, Rajeev Jain-led GQG Partners, which has been a strategic investor in six Adani Group companies, is monitoring the charges against Gautam Adani and Adani Group executives in the bribery case, Reuters quoted sources. The Group may “evaluate” its investments in the Indian conglomerate. The Australia-listed GQG Partners’ shares tanked 18 per cent on Thursday.