Shares of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone surged nearly 13 percent in two sessions after a promoter bought close to 19.3 lakh shares of the company for Rs 127 crore via the open market.
NSE
On June 17, Infinite Trade and Investment Ltd, the company's promoter group, purchased a 0.09 percent stake at an average price of Rs 656.88 per share. Infinite Trade and Investment had no stake in the firm before this acquisition.
The stock surged over seven percent in Friday's session and was up five percent to Rs 729.75 on Monday.
Adani Ports' shares tanked over 22 percent between June 14-17 after a media report suggested that the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) had frozen the accounts of top foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) who own more than Rs 43,500 crore worth of shares in these companies. The NSDL and Adani Group later clarified that it's not true.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings has placed a ‘negative’ outlook on Gautam Adani-led Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited's (APSEZ) affirming long-term foreign-currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BBB-'.
“We believe APSEZ has adequate liquidity to weather near-term challenges. The company had a readily available cash balance of about Rs 53 billion at FYE21, against operating expenses of Rs 33 billion and an interest cost of about Rs 21 billion. APSEZ has Rs 14 billion due in FY22 to be repaid or refinanced,” Fitch noted.
Citi, meanwhile, retained a 'buy' rating on Adani Ports as it feels that the news is likely to have any negative impact on the company's business prospects. It added that the firm is well-positioned to grow its already high market share and that the current valuations are attractive.
Adani Ports is India’s largest commercial port operator and integrated logistic player in the country. The company in its annual report said that it expects the next wave of growth to come from logistics.
For the March quarter, the firm's profit surged 285 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,287.81 crore versus Rs 334 crore in the year-ago period. Its revenue from operations during the quarter grew by 23.5 percent YoY to Rs 3,608 crore compared to Rs 2,921 crore year on year. This was led by a 27 percent growth in cargo volume and a 30 percent rise in port revenue.
At 12.40 pm, the shares of Adani Ports were trading six percent higher at Rs 736 apiece on the BSE.