Indian billionaire Adani’s losses hit $86 billion, losing Asia’s ‎richest title

An informed source said that the Market Regulatory Authority in India is conducting a review and audit regarding the decline in the shares of billionaire Gautam Adani companies, at a time when his losses are inflated.

According to “Reuters”, the source, who asked not to be named, said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India is also looking into a number of allegations that Hindenburg Investment Research Company spoke about.

The shares of the prominent Indian billionaire’s group of companies witnessed a further decline on Wednesday, as the shares of his companies suffered losses amounting to $ 86 billion, after the emergence of the American company’s report that spoke of stock manipulation, and the billionaire lost the title of the richest man in Asia.

Stock losses on Wednesday led Adani to fall to the fifteenth place in the Forbes list of the richest people in the world with a net worth estimated at $ 75.1 billion, to come in a later position to his competitor Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Reliance Industries, who ranked ninth with a net worth. It was estimated at 83.7 billion dollars

Adani was ranked third, ahead of the scathing report from Hindenburg Investment Research

The losses represent a sharp setback for Adani, who dropped out of education and turned into a billionaire, whose wealth has increased rapidly in the past few years with the increase in the value of the shares of his companies, which include ports, airports, mining, cement and energy companies. Adani is currently striving hard to restore stability to his companies and protect his reputation

The drop in shares comes just one day after the Adani Group was able to garner support from investors to sell shares worth $2.5 billion from Adani Enterprises, in what some considered a slogan of investor confidence in a time of crisis.

A report by Hindenburg Research said last week that the Adani Group was abusing offshore tax havens and manipulating stocks. The company also raised concerns about the high debt and valuations of the seven Adani companies listed on the stock exchange

The group denied the allegations, saying that the US company’s perception of stock manipulation was “baseless” and stemmed from ignorance of Indian law. She added that she always provides the necessary regulatory disclosures

Shares in Adani Enterprises, often described as the Adani business incubator, fell 28 percent on Wednesday, exceeding $18 billion in losses since the Hindenburg Research report. Adani Ports and the Special Economic Zone lost 19 percent of their value. Both stocks had the worst day ever

“The kind of decline we are seeing in Adani shares is scary,” said Avinash Gorakshakar, head of research at Mumbai-based Profitmart Securities.

Adani Power and Adani Wilmar shares each fell 5 percent. Adani lost 10 percent to Total Gas. Adani Transmission shares lost 3 percent and Adani Green Energy lost 5.6 percent.

Adani Total Gas, a joint venture with the French company Total, was the most affected by the Hindenburg report, losing about $27 billion.

Dollar bonds of Adani companies extended their decline on Wednesday. Dollar bonds of Adani Ports due in February 2031 topped the losses, falling 3.59 cents to 67.58 cents.

Confirming the tension in some quarters, Bloomberg said that Credit Suisse stopped accepting bonds of the Adani group of companies as collateral for loans to its clients in private banks.

Devin Choksey, managing director of KR, said: Chucky Shares & Security, this was a major impact factor on the drop in stocks on Wednesday.

After Adani companies lost $ 86 billion in the past few days; that’s 16 percent of India’s $550 billion annual budget spending announced on Wednesday; the total market value of the seven group companies listed on the stock exchange has become about $131 billion

“There was a slight rebound yesterday after the stock sell-off moved forward, which seemed unlikely at one point, but the weak market sentiment is now evident again after the shocking Hindenburg report,” said Ambaresh Palega, an independent market analyst in Mumbai. “

“With stocks retreating despite Adany’s defense, some of the damage to investor sentiment is evident. It will take some time to stabilize.”

India’s benchmark Nafty index has fallen 2.7 percent since the Hindenburg report. The data also shows that foreign investors sold $1.5 billion worth of Indian stocks after the Hindenburg report, in the biggest outflow of funds for four consecutive days since Sept. 30.

Scrutiny of the Adani group is growing. On Wednesday, an Australian regulator said it would examine Hindenburg’s allegations to decide whether there were grounds for further investigation.

Sources said India’s market regulator, which has been examining the group’s deals, would add Hindenburg’s report to its initial investigation. The authority did not comment on the story of Hindenburg and Adani.

India’s credit rating agency, a subsidiary of Moody’s, said on Wednesday that it was monitoring the impact of developments on its Adani Group rated portfolio. And she added that despite the enormity of the debt-financed capital spending plan for the group, it represents a “major challenge”, some of it is discretionary in nature and can be postponed, depending on the liquidity situation.

India’s state-run life insurance company said on Monday it would seek clarifications from Adani’s management. The life insurance company owned a 4.23 percent stake in Adani Enterprises as of the end of December and owned more than nine percent in Adani Ports and the Special Economic Zone. The Indian insurance giant was one of the major investors in selling Adani shares recently

The shares of the cement company (ACC) fell 6.2 percent, and the shares of the Ombo cement company fell.