Adani touts sufficient cash after rout sparked by US charges
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The report is the Indian conglomerate’s first substantial attempt at managing the fallout from the shock indictment.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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Mumbai – India’s Adani Group said it has enough cash to service debt obligations, as it sought to reassure creditors after a US bribery indictment against founder Gautam Adani
Cash balances exceed long-term debt repayments for the next 28 months, while portfolio-level cash balances were at US$6.33 billion (S$8.53 billion), the port-to-power conglomerate said in a report for the first six months of the financial year ending March 2025 released on Nov 25.
The group has a strong asset base of US$66 billion built over three decades, according to the report. Adani said its gross assets to net debt ratio improved to 2.7 in the first half from 2.63 previously.
The report is Adani’s first substantial attempt at managing the fallout from a shock indictment from US prosecutors last week that accused Asia’s second-richest man and others of driving a US$250 million bribery scheme related to solar energy contracts.
Adani’s 10 listed stocks led by Adani Enterprises lost US$27.9 billion in market value over two sessions last week after the US charges, while one of its entities was forced to cancel a US$600 million bond offering.
The group has dismissed the allegations as baseless and said it would seek all possible legal recourse. A top executive on Nov 23 said the group would respond to the US allegations after a detailed review of the legal filing and after advice from its counsel.
The group said 62 per cent of its total revenue and 84 per cent of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were derived from its core infrastructure business.
Showcasing a stronger cash position is necessary for the group to convince creditors about its business fundamentals, as it faces a new hurdle just as it was recovering from a stinging short-seller report in 2023. The January report by Hindenburg Research, which claimed Adani manipulated its stock price and committed accounting fraud, had wiped out over US$150 billion in market value from its listed companies at one point. Adani has vehemently denied those claims. BLOOMBERG
