Adani Group Shares Dive As Depository Freezes Foreign Investors' Accounts

Shares of Adani Group companies dropped on Monday after the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) froze the accounts of three foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) that are among the top stakeholders in these companies. NSDL froze accounts of Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund and APMS Investment Fund. Albula Investment Fund owned 2.14 per cent stake in Adani Enterprises, Cresta Fund owned 2.98 per cent and APMS Investment Fund had 1.69 per cent in the Adani Group's flagship company.

Likewise, Albula Investment owned 1.23 per cent stake in Adani Green and APMS Investment Fund had 2.34 per cent, data from BSE showed.

Shares of Adani Enterprises fell as much as 25 per cent to hit an intraday low of Rs 1,201, Adani Power declined 5 per cent to Rs 141, Adani Ports and SEZ dropped 19 pr cent to Rs 681.50, Adani Total Gas tumbled 5 per cent to Rs 1,545, Adani Transmission declined 5 per cent to Rs 1,517 and Adani Green fell 5 per cent to Rs 1,165.

The three funds feature among the top twelve investors and owned about 2.1 per cent to 8.91 per cent stakes in five Adani Group companies as of March 31, 2020, annual investor presentations show.

The value of their stakes in Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green, Adani Transmission and Adani Total Gas spiked over ten-fold since end-March 2020 to Rs 56,932 crore as of Friday, according to Reuters calculations.

Shares of Adani Enterprises rose over 10-fold in the past year until Friday, while Adani Transmission shares gained more than eight-fold and Adani Total Gas shares have jumped 1,114 per cent.

Adani Ports has risen 148 per cent, while Adani Green has grown 267 per cent and Adani Power has jumped nearly four-fold over the past year.

As of 2:00 pm, all the Adani Group shares were underperforming the Sensex which was trading on a flat note.