CreditSights finds errors in debt report on India’s Adani group firms

NEW DELHI

Fitch Group unit CreditSights said that it had discovered calculation errors in its recent debt report on two power and transmission companies controlled by India’s richest person, Gautam Adani, following a conversation with the management.

CreditSights’ report late last month — calling the conglomerate “deeply overleveraged” and flagging other risks — had sent shares of many Adani Group companies down.

In a report dated September 7, the debt research firm said that it had spoken with Adani Group’s financial (and other) executives, and reconciled some figures for Adani Transmission and Adani Power.

“Management views that the group’s leverage is at manageable levels, and that its expansion plans have not been mainly debt funded,” CreditSights said about the conglomerate, that has announced deals worth billions of dollars this year alone.

For Adani Transmission, CreditSights corrected its earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) — or core profit — estimate to Rs52 billion ($652.45 million) from Rs42 billion earlier. For Adani Power, it corrected its gross debt estimate to Rs489 billion from Rs582 billion.

It did not give the period for the estimates.

“These corrections did not change our investment recommendations,” CreditSights said, adding that it, however, did not have formal recommendations on the two power and transmission companies.

The combined market value of the Adani Group’s seven publicly traded companies — flagship Adani Enterprises , Adani Wilmar, Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission, Adani Total Gas and Adani Power — has increased tenfold in the past three years, to about $251 billion.