Adani Enterprises Recoups All Losses Triggered By Hindenburg Claims

Adani Enterprises Ltd., the flagship company of billionaire Gautam Adani, recouped all losses that were triggered by the short-seller Hindenburg Research's allegations.

The strong comeback by the flagship company of the ports-to-power conglomerate came after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the Adani Group and dismissed all allegations made by the short-seller. The latest surge was led by the flagship's potential entry in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex along with the market overall rally in the markets.

Adani Enterprises' stock rose as much as 1.96% during the day to Rs 3,453.7 apiece on the NSE on Friday. The scrip has now almost tripled since its lowest level in late February last year.  

Adani Group's market capitalisation on Wednesday regained the $200-billion mark (Rs 16.9 lakh crore). With an intraday gain of Rs 35,044 crore on Friday, its market capitalisation rose to Rs 17.6 lakh crore, according to stock exchange data.

Besides Adani Enterprises, at least five of the 10 listed Adani Group stocks are trading above the levels seen before the Hindenburg report.

IIFL Alternative Research expects Adani Enterprises' stock to be included in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex in June, potentially bringing passive flows. The flagship company of the ports-to-power conglomerate will attract a net inflow of up to $118 million due to the inclusion.

Similarly, the semi-annual review of the BSE 100 index could see the inclusion of three Adani stocks: Adani Green Energy Ltd., Adani Power Ltd., and Adani Green Energy Solutions Ltd.

All stocks of the apples to airports conglomerate were trading higher in trade on Friday, except Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. which was trading marginally lower at 0.6%.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to the Adani Group and dismissed all allegations while reposing confidence in SEBI's powers. The top court ruled that petitioners could not provide enough material to transfer the Adani-Hindenburg probe to a special investigation team. The court disposed of the petitions, finding that the "threshold for a transfer of investigation" had not been made out.

After Hindenburg's report and Adani Group's counter in January last year, four public interest petitions were filed before the apex court. The PILs had broadly asked for directions regarding allegations against the Adani Group.

On March 2, the Supreme Court directed SEBI to look into any disclosure breaches and possible price manipulation of Adani stock in violation of existing laws. The regulator was directed to submit its report within two months. But in April, SEBI made submissions before the apex court asking for six months to conclude its investigation. The court, however, granted time only till Aug. 14.

Since the markets regulator required more time to complete the investigation, it filed an application before the court on Aug. 14, asking for 15 additional days. As per SEBI's last status report, which was submitted to the court on Aug. 25, the regulator had wrapped up its investigation in 22 of the 24 matters.

The Supreme Court had also set up an independent committee back in March. This committee was headed by Justice (retired) Abhay Manohar Sapre. Other members of the committee included OP Bhat, KV Kamath, Nandan Nilekani, Somashekhar Sundaresan, and retired Justice JP Devadhar.

The committee submitted its report before the top court in May, concluding that a regulatory failure by SEBI could not be ascertained.

During the last hearing in November, the top court had expressed confidence in the regulator and dismissed allegations doubting SEBI's role in the investigation.