Retail investors take Rs79k-cr hit in Adani

Hyderabad: The ongoing crisis at Adani group triggered a major downfall in market capitalisation (mcap) for retail investors though free float (FF) mcap is 25 per cent of overall full mcap, which was another major reason for higher volatility. The retail mcap fell by Rs79,473.44 crore or 50.22 per cent from Rs1,57,654.44 crore on January 23, 2023, to Rs78,181 crore on February 10, 2023.All the 10 Adani stocks fell 51 per cent to Rs9.31 lakh crore mcap.

The Adani group stocks including Ambuja, ACC and NDTV, lost Rs10.2 lakh crore or 53 per cent of their combined market cap since January 24 till Monday (Feb13).

As per latest estimates, Gautam Adani’s current net worth hovering at $54.7 billion, 51 per cent lower since Hindernburg Research released its report on January 25, 2023. His networth eroded by $7 billion last weekend alone and he slipped to 22ndslot on Forbes global rich list.

Adani Group was the third Indian conglomerate to enter $200-bn mcap club after Tata group and RIL. Gautam Adani was second richest person last year after Elon Musk ($277bn) and was ahead of Louis Vitton's Bernard Arnault and Jeff Bezos before the current crisis. With $82.2 bn networth, Mukesh Ambani is ninth richest person on Forbes global rich list.

Adani Group's consolidated gross debt stood at Rs1.9 trillion ($23.34 billion). But Gautam Adani expressed confidence that the debt is at a manageable level and that no investor raised any concern.

However, on last Friday, Moody's Investor Service revised the rating outlook on four Adani Group companies to negative from stable after a significant and rapid decline in market value following a report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research.