Mega Block Deal: This Adani Stock Zooms 3% As GQG Invests Rs 4,245 Crore; 2 FDIs Sold $1 Billion Worth Shares

Mega Block Deal: The US-based investment boutique, GQG Partners who have been picking up stakes in ample Adani shares after the Hindenburg report, has once again taken a liking to yet another Gautam Adani-backed listed firm. This time it would be Adani Group-backed power and energy company, Adani Power who witnessed impressive buying on Thursday after foreign investors carried huge block deals which is said to be one of the largest ever secondary market equity transactions. The stock has rallied up to 3% on BSE.

At the time of writing, Adani Power shares traded at Rs 287 apiece, up by Rs 2.76% on BSE. Earlier, in the first half of the trading session, the stock gained by at least 3.3% with an intraday high of Rs 288.45 apiece.

Riding on the back of bulls, Adani Power's market cap has risen by nearly Rs 3,555 crore in a single day to over Rs 1.1 lakh crore.

On August 16, the stock stood at Rs 279.30 apiece with a market cap of more than Rs 1.07 lakh crore.

Adani Power is the fourth largest company of the port-to-energy empire in terms of market cap.

The mega block deal took place on August 16 through an open market.

As per the data on BSE, Goldman Sachs Trust II-Goldman Sachs GQG Partners INTL Opportunities Fund bought 10.30 crore equity shares at Rs 279.15 per share --- aggregating to Rs 2,876.09 crore.

Also, GQG Partners Emerging Markets Equity Fund purchased 4.903 crore equity shares at Rs 279.15 apiece, aggregating to Rs 1,368.67 crore.

Together, GQG bought 15.203 crore equity shares in Adani Power --- amounting to Rs 4,244.76 crore.

GQG bought a portion of shares which were sold by two foreign investors who belong to the promoter group of Adani. The two promoters offloaded nearly Rs 9,000 crore (approximately $1.1 billion) worth of shares in the company.

Data from BSE showed that promoter Worldwide Emerging Market Holding sold 46,514,325 equity shares at Rs 279.16 apiece -- aggregating to Rs 1,298.49 crore. Also, Afro Asia Trade and Investments dumped 265,485,675 equity shares at Rs 279.18 apiece, aggregating to Rs 7,411.82 crore. Together, these promoters offloaded shares worth Rs 8,710.32 crore.

As of June 30, 2023, Worldwide Emerging Market Holding held 19,28,46,900 equity shares or 5% stake in Adani Power, while Afro Asia held 26,54,85,675 equity shares or 6.88%.

From June 2023 quarterly levels, the two promoters have offloaded up to 8.1% stake in Adani Power.

However, GQG Partners has shown a consistent appetite for Adani stocks. Earlier, the asset management firm bought a 5.4% stake in Gautam Adani's flagship firm Adani Enterprises, while it has purchased a 6.54% stake in Adanu Green Energy and a 2.5% stake in Adani Transmission. Adani Power became the fourth company of Adani Group where GQG bought shares.

It needs to be noted that GQG continued to invest in Adani stocks despite the billions of dollars of market rout which was orchestrated after the US-based short seller Hindenburg's bombshell report in late January.

During the 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 same quarter a year ago. Also, the company's 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. 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 Q1FY24, the company posted a consolidated PAT of Rs 8,759 crore, up by 83.3% YoY, while revenue jumped by 16.8% YoY to Rs 18,109 crore. EBITDA soared by 41.5% YoY to Rs 10,618 crore, supported mainly by prior period income recognition and incremental contribution of Godda power plant.

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.

Adani Power shares have rallied by at least 16.5% on BSE in a month, while its six-monthly gains is a whopping 84%. However, year-to-date, Adani Power's stock has dipped 4% owing to Hindenburg's report which led to severe selloffs in Group's listed shares broadly. Nevertheless, Adani shares are recovering from their downfalls in first quarter of 2023. In 5 years, Adani Power is a multibagger and skyrocketed by a massive 815% on BSE as of now.