Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, other group stocks fall up to 14%: Here's a likely reason

Adani Enterprises, other group stocks fall up to 8%: Here's a likely reason

• Adani Group stocks dropped 11% after SEC sought email summons in fraud case.
• SEC accuses Gautam and Sagar Adani of $265M bribery, violating US securities laws
• Adani Group denies allegations, plans to pursue all legal options.

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Shares of listed Adani Group companies fell up to 14% on January 23 amid reports that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a US court for permission to personally email summons to billionaire Gautam Adani and group executive Sagar Adani over alleged fraud and a $265-million bribery scheme.

In the most high-profile legal case in the U.S. involving an Indian conglomerate, the SEC has been trying to send summons to Adani group founder Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar since last year, reported Reuters on January 22.

Adani Group has called the allegations "baseless" and said that it would seek "all possible legal recourse" to defend itself. It did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the latest SEC filing, dated January 21.

India has previously refused two requests to serve the summons, the SEC said, according to filings.

In the response to the New York court, the US markets regulator said it "does not expect service to be completed" through the current route and should be allowed to directly email the summons to the Adani group executives.

On January 23, Adani Enterprises shares closed trading nearly 11% lower at Rs 1,861 apiece, its lowest level since May 19, 2023, while Adani Green Energy shares fell over 14% to Rs 775 apiece.

Adani Green Energy posted a 99% drop in third‑quarter profit on January 23, as higher finance costs inflated its expenses and offset gains from strong power sales and improved capacity utilisation.

For Adani Green, consolidated profit slumped to Rs 5 crore in the quarter ended December 31, from Rs 474 crore a year earlier.

A sharp 27.14% rise in expenses to Rs 2,961 crore and a 35.73% surge in finance costs absorbed most of the company’s topline, even as power sales remained strong.

Meanwhile, Adani Ports stock closed trading 7% lower at Rs 1,310.

In June, Gautam Adani said that “despite all the noise,” no one from the Adani Group was charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or conspiring to obstruct justice.

The SEC’s lawsuit, filed in November 2024, alleges that Gautam and Sagar Adani violated US securities laws by making false and misleading representations about Adani Green Energy Ltd.

Shares of Adani Energy Solutions fell 10% to Rs 832 apiece in line with broader declines in Adani Group shares after US SEC sought court approval to serve summons on Gautam Adani and a group executive. This is the biggest single-day percentage fall since November 21, 2024.

The fall comes a day after the company reported a 1.7% YoY drop in Q3 consolidated net profit at Rs 552 crore.

ICICI Securities said profit fell due to one-off tax benefit last year, while adjusted profit growth shows strong underlying performance.

Shares of Adani Total Gas and Adani Power were trading 6% lower each.

The conglomerate's cement company stocks, ACC, Ambuja Cement and Sanghi Industries were trading 3%, 5% and 5.3% lower, respectively.

The combined market capitalisation of all 10 listed entities of the conglomerate fell by Rs 1.4 lakh crore to Rs 12.45 lakh crore during the day, said a report.

"Market participants assumed there's nothing pending and that the group has been cleared, so the SEC filing seems (to have come) out of the blue," Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst, told Reuters.

With no clear timeline for the next steps, Baliga expects the issue could linger for at least another fortnight, noting that overall market sentiment was already weak.