ADANI GROUP’S GROSS DEBT RS 2.27 TRILLION, TO FOCUS ON PREPAYING LOANS: REPORT

Tue 25 Apr 2023:

The embattled Adani Group’s gross debt was Rs 2.27 trillion as of March 31, 2023, according to a note submitted by the corporate house to lenders recently, reports Business Standard. The group has projected that it will not take on additional debt until it lowers its existing one, says the newspaper.

In the presentation, the group said the value of total gross assets was Rs 3.91 trillion as of March 2023. The newspaper reports that the embattled company’s debt exposure covered 39% to bonds, 29% to global international banks, and 32% to Indian banks and home-grown non-banking financial firms.

The group, which has been at the centre of a controversy for months due to its alleged proximity to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is expected to report a 20% rise in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at Rs 61,200 crore for the financial year that ended in March 2023. It is marginally higher than EBITDA of Rs 57,299 crore earned by the corporate house in the preceding financial year which ended in March 2022.

Net debt for FY23 was projected at Rs 1.95 trillion after it repaid debt worth Rs 23,590 crore the same year, according to a recent note submitted by the group to lenders and regulators on future projections. Adani Ports, a group company, will buy back bonds worth up to $300 million from its investors by using its own cash in the ongoing financial year, said Business Standard.

A unit of India’s Adani Group said on Monday it would seek to buy back up to $130mn of its outstanding debt.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone said in a stock exchange filing that it had started a buyback programme for its 3.375 per cent senior notes due in 2024.

The group, owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, has lost more than $100bn in share value since a January report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research. Hindenburg alleged that Adani units manipulated stock prices and improperly used shell companies based in tax havens.

Then the group sold stake in four companies and prepaid debt of around $3 billion with the proceeds. The group stocks have only risen by 47% since the lows touched in end-February, even as it remains at the centre of a major political controversy.

-The Wire

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