Adani Stock Free Falls In Last Minutes Of Trade, Single-Day Drop 10%; Investors Lost Rs 9,500 Crore Wealth

Adani Group-backed power firm, Adani Power in a knee-jerk moment witnessed a sharp free fall in the last minutes of Wednesday's trading session. The stock touched an intraday low of Rs 312.55 apiece, resulting in an overall single-day drop of 10%. The stock ended lower by 7% on BSE. More than Rs 9,500 crore investors' wealth eroded. Adani Powers shares in bulk exchanged hands in the last trading minutes.

On BSE, Adani Power stock ended at Rs 322.75 apiece, down by Rs 24.65 or 7.10%. The stock nosedived by Rs 34.85 or 10.03% by hitting an intraday low of Rs 312.55 apiece.

At the current market price, the company's m-cap stood at Rs 1,24,482.70 crore, compared to the previous day's valuation of Rs 1,33,990.06 crore. Hence, at least Rs 9,507.36 crore worth of investors' wealth has been eroded in 1 day.

On Tuesday, the stock stood at Rs 347.40 apiece.

Power stocks were in focus on Wednesday as government extended the section 11 till October 31, 2023, as per reports. Section 11 which is for imported coal-based power generators was earlier expiring on September 30, 2023.

Section 11 enables the government to direct generating company to operate and maintain any generating station under extraordinary
circumstances as per the directions specified by the Centre. Hence, the government has asked all imported coal-based plants to operate and generate power at full capacity.

Adani Power aims for a total thermal generation capacity of 21,110 MWs by FY 2028-29. In its investors' presentation dated August 21, Adani Power revealed that the company is estimating 72% supercritical capacity by FY24, and to reach 74% capacity by FY29. While the company projected 31% Emission control equipment (FGD) installed capacity by FY24 and 100% FGD installed capacity by FY29. It added, "In its endeavour for climate readiness, APL is aligning its business model with the latest technologies in climate efficient manner."

During June 2023 quarter, Adani Power achieved an average consolidated Plant Load Factor ["PLF"] of 60.1% and sales of 17.5 Billion Units ["BU"] on an installed capacity of 15,250 MW, as compared to a consolidated PLF of 58.6% and sales volume of 16.3 BU on an installed capacity of 13,650 MW in the quarter ended 30th June 2022.

Also, the power plants at Udupi, Raipur, Raigarh, and Mahan achieved an increase in PLF, while power plants at Mundra, Tiroda, and Kawai achieved lower PLF due to erratic weather conditions leading to back down from DISCOMs. The incremental generation capacity of the 1,600 MW Godda Ultra-supercritical thermal power plant ["USCTPP"] contributed to the increase in sales volumes for Q1 FY 2023-24.

In the quarter, consolidated total revenue jumped by 16.8% YoY to Rs 18,109 crore, while PAT stood at Rs 8,759 crore registering a whopping 83.3% YoY growth. EBITDA stood 41.5% YoY higher at Rs 10,618 crore.

Adani Power, a part of the diversified Adani Group, is the largest private thermal power producer in India. The company has an installed thermal power capacity of 15,250 MW spread across eight power plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand, apart from a 40 MW solar power plant in
Gujarat.