The Adani group became the third group in India to cross $100 billion market cap after the Tata group and Reliance. Of course, we are excluding HDFC group since it is not a promoter driven group. In the process, 4 out of the 6 listed Adani entities touched life-time highs. The group market capitalization stands at $108 billion. The group has made a big splash in infrastructure gaining control of 7 airports, 25% of air traffic and 30% of port traffic into India. Adani Green had recently won the world’s largest solar contract.
Reliance Jio will acquire from Bharti Airtel, the right to spectrum usage in the 800 MHz band in AP, Delhi and Mumbai circles. As per the deal, Airtel’s 800 MHz spectrum in AP, 3.75 MHz; Delhi 1.25 MHz and Mumbai 2.50 MHz will be transferred to Reliance Jio. For these spectrum rights, Jio will pay Bharti Airtel Rs.1,038 crore and also assume deferred payment liability of Rs.459 crore taking the total consideration to Rs.1,497 crore. For Airtel, it is a means of unlocking value from spectrum that was lying unutilized.
Cred has become the latest Fintech start-up to become a Unicorn with an indicative valuation of $2.2 billion during its $215 million Series-D funding. This round of funding was led by Falcon Edge Capital and Coatue Management. Bengaluru based Cred has already raised $440 million till date. This will be used for implementing a $5 million ESOP to incentivize employees. Cred is intended to inculcate responsible credit behaviour, with the rapid growth in plastic use. Cred had reported net loss of Rs.360 crore in FY20.
Mutual funds posted healthy growth in AUM for the Mar-21 quarter as per data put out by AMFI. On a yoy basis, the average AUM increased 19% to Rs.32.2 trillion as of end Mar-21. While outflows have continued from equity funds, debt funds and passive funds have seen consistent inflows. Also, the rally in the Nifty has more than contributed to value accretion. SBI MF has expanded its lead over HDFC AMC with latest AUM at Rs.5.05 trillion. Axis Mutual Fund recorded the sharpest YOY growth in AUM of 42%.
The first truth about the size of the Archegos losses are hitting home with Credit Suisse taking $4.7 billion hit on its income statement. Archegos had recently gone under when its leveraged Total Return Swaps or TRS had bombed and Credit Suisse was among its major prime brokers. The bank’s investment head and its Chief Risk Officer have stepped down following the loss. The top management at Credit Suisse has been asked to forego their bonuses. The stock of Credit Suisse is already down 25% since Mar-21.
Burger King India got a rating upgrade from ICRA for its long-term ratings. ICRA also revised its outlook for Burger King from “Negative” to “Stable”. According to ICRA, the rating upgrade is suggestive of the significant improvement in solvency after Burger King prepaid its entire debt on balance sheet with the IPO funds. The Burger King IPO had been subscribed 156 times and the stock still quotes at a substantial premium to its issue price. Burger King stock was sharply up on 06 April post the upgrade by ICRA.
South based realty company, Sobha, reported record bookings of Rs.1072 crore in the Mar-21 quarter. On a yoy basis, this is up 48%, despite the pandemic lag effect. Its total sales volume at 1.34 million SFT was largely driven by the Bengaluru market plus momentum in Kochi and Gurugram. This was the best quarter in the entire history of Sobha and could be seen as pent-up demand. Sobha has noted that the low cost of home loans and the enhanced tax benefits have played a role. Stock was up 8% on Tuesday.
Adani Ports and SEZ rallied to new highs after it reported 41% jump in cargo volumes on a yoy basis. The total port volumes in March stood at 26 million MT, while it was at 73 MMT for the Mar-21 quarter. Cargo volumes for FY21 were up 11% at 247 MMT. In the container segment, Adani Ports SEZ has a 41% share nationally and 48% share on the West Coast. Recently, Adani also paid Rs.2800 crore to take 100% control of Krishnapatnam port, which along with Gangavaram, will give Adani good share of East Coast also.
