Hindenburg report ‘gas and fire’, our FPO, investment plans on track: Adani

The Adani group’s operating companies are churning out Rs 1,100 crore of Ebitda (earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation) per week and the group’s investment plans in the hydrogen business remain on track, Adani group’s chief financial officer, Jugeshinder Singh said today.

“There is no change in our follow-on public offer (FPO) plans and we are extremely confident of the success of the FPO. Our investments in the Hydrogen business remain on track and the project’s development is not contingent on this. Our main focus remains on running our businesses,” Singh said today. The Rs 20,000 crore follow-on offer was raising only half of the proceeds with the rest to be raised over the next few months. The FPO closes on Tuesday.

“Our message to investors is that our group has large industrial companies and we remain fully invested. Our strategic partners are long-term partners and they remain fully invested. The fundamental nature of our business is that everything (investment) is done based on operating assets. We hardly have to borrow anything or raise capital for general purposes,” Singh said.

Of the total FPO proceeds, the group flagship Adani Enterprises was planning to invest Rs 11,000 crore in the hydrogen business and Rs 4,000 crore to reduce debt.

Terming American short seller Hindenburg’s report “gas and fire”, Singh said it deliberately used only part of the group’s disclosures in the past to make a misleading point. “This is not a mistake but a malicious misrepresentation of facts and 68 out of their 88 questions are like this. For example, in the particular matter of DRI (directorate of revenue intelligence), the Supreme Court of India has given a final judgement. They know this as this was our disclosures in 15 different documents over several years. If they see any of these documents, they would know that they are wrong. They deliberately did this to mislead the investors,” Singh said.

Singh said the group companies are still collating data and will move the market regulator, the Sebi against the short sellers once the data is completed.