Adani Group Pays Rs. 1500 Cr Loan As A Comeback Strategy; To Prepay Another Rs. 1000 Cr Due In March

Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ) has stated that they have paid 1500 crore INR of their debt and has promised to repay about 1000 Crore INR after the Adani Group was trying to build its firm’s reputation as a comeback strategy. Adani Group is presently trying to overcome the damage to the reputation that has been caused by the Hindenburg report.

Adani Ports and SEZ paid SBI Mutual Funds the debt amount of 1500 crore INR on Monday, and it will pay 1000 crore INR for the commercial papers to be paid in March as per the payment scheme.

The spokesperson has stated that the part payments have been made from the existing cash of the Gujarat-based conglomerate and the funds that were generated during the business operation. The prepayment has come off as an attempt to build up the confidence of the investors who have placed their prudent capital and the plan for liquidity management in the group.

APSEZ, the country’s largest private port operator, has even declared that they would consider repaying the debt of 5000 crore INR by the next financial year. It will help to improve the firm’s total net debt-to-earnings ratio to about 2.5 times the present valuation of 1.3 percent.

The port operator’s cash and cash equivalent were estimated to be in a valuation of 6257 crores INR. At the same time, the net debt has accounted for 39,277 crores INR.

The December quarter marked the total net debt of the Adani Group to stand at 1.96 lakh crore INR. it is considered the second time, that the Adani Group has taken the initiative to repay its loans to silence the critics who have laid concerns about the allegations made by the Hindenburg report. The step has been taken to bring back the investor’s confidence and high leverage of the group. As of now, Gautam Adani and his family have paid back prepaid loans accounting for 1.1 billion USD taken against their shares as collateral. The loams were yet to be matured in September 2024.

Despite the actions taken by the Adani Group, the stocks are not performing well in the market. The shares have been on a free-fall trajectory and have declined by 75 percent. The Group faced major shortcomings when prominent firms like Credit Suisse, Standard Chartered Bank, and Citi Group denied taking the group’s bonds as collateral.

Moody’s analytics have downgraded the outlook for four Adani groups from ‘stable’ to negative.
The outlook for Adani Green Energy (AGELrating) has changed from stable to negative, but the Ba3 ratings have remained the same.

Both Adani Transmission Station One and Adani Electricity are included in the Adani Green energy-restricted group, and their outlook has been downgraded to negative.
Both Adani Transmission Station One and Adani Electricity, which are both a part of the Adani Green energy-restricted group, now have a negative outlook.

The company’s capital expenditure plan and its heavy reliance on sponsor support, particularly in the form of subordinated debts or shareholder loans, have affected the ratings. The short-seller attack, in accordance with Moody Analytics, has raised concerns about the Adani Group’s performance.

Adani Group Expands its Operation in Himachal Pradesh:

Meanwhile, Adani Group Companies ACC and Ambuja Cements will start operations at two plants in Himachal Pradesh after removing the disputes in the state. The decision was announced after the conflict between the two Adani Group firms ended after 67 days over the freight charges, with both firms agreeing to the new rates.
Adani Cement has revealed in a statement that they are happy to inform that the stakeholders of the enterprise have come together and tactfully resolved the conflict on the freight rates in Himachal Pradesh. The outcome has turned out to be positive for both parties.

Adani Group has even been n talks with the lenders to repay 500 million USD bridge loan stakes that it has taken to buy stakes in prominent cement companies, including Ambuja Cements and ACC in the previous year.
The report has asserted that the group is trying to repay the loans in cash this month and even cited that the loan had a tenure of six months for maturity and was part of a bigger 5.25 billion USD financing project.

The news has come into account after the Adani Group declared that the enterprises do not face any refinancing risk or near-term issues of liquidity in an attempt to bring back the trust of the investors haunted by the short seller attack.

Barclays, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank have underwritten the loan. But, they denied commenting on the matter.

Edited by Prakriti Arora