LIC loses Rs 18,000 crore in just 2 days as Adani group stocks crash
The ongoing fall in Adani Group stocks made a deep dent in their investors’ portfolios in mere two trading sessions. The country’s biggest institutional investor, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), is one of those affected investors. LIC’s combined investment in Adani group stocks plunged to Rs 62,621 crore on January 27, 2023 from Rs 81,268 crore on January 24, 2023, indicating a notional loss of Rs 18,647 crore.
Data available with Ace Equity showed that LIC held over 1 percent stake in Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission, and recently acquired cement major Ambuja Cements and ACC as of December 31, 2022. Shares of these companies tanked somewhere between 19 percent and 27 per cent in the past two trading sessions.
Shares of the group came under pressure after a report by Hindenburg Research claiming that the Indian giant had engaged in stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of last few decades. Meanwhile, Jugeshinder Singh, Group CFO, Adani in a media statement said, “The report is a malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations that have been tested and rejected by India’s highest courts.”
He further added that the timing of the report’s publication clearly betrays a brazen, mala fide intention to undermine the Adani Group’s reputation with the principal objective of damaging the upcoming follow-on public offering from Adani Enterprises, the biggest FPO ever in India. Adani Enterprises’ Rs 20,000 crore FPO opened for subscription on January 27.
In absolute terms, the total investment of LIC in Adani Total Gas declined by Rs 6,237 crore since January 24. It was followed by Adani Enterprises (down 3,279 crore), Adani Ports (down Rs 3,205 crore), Adani Transmission (down Rs 3,036 crore), Ambuja Cements (down Rs 1,474 crore), Adani Green Energy (down Rs 871 crore) and ACC (down Rs 544 crore).
Overall, the market capitalisation of 10-listed Adani Group companies tanked around Rs 4 lakh crore to nearly Rs 15 lakh crore on January 27 from Rs 19 lakh crore on January 24, 2023. Meanwhile, the benchmark equity index BSE Sensex also cracked 1,647 points, or 2.70 per cent, to 59,330.90.
