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India's Adani speaks about turmoil as Citigroup stops margin loans

Gautam Adani, who saw $100 billion rout in shares of his listed firms, says his conglomerate has "impeccable track record" of fulfilling debt obligations. Meanwhile, Citigroup stops accepting securities of his firms as collateral for margin loans.

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School-dropout-turned-billionaire has lost his title of Asia's richest man after a $86 billion rout in shares of his listed companies.

India's Adani group will review its capital raising plan once the market stabilises, chairman Gautam Adani has said, after flagship Adani Enterprises withdrew a $2.5 billion share sale citing the need to insulate investors from potential losses.

In a video address on Thursday, Adani said the ports-to-airports conglomerate's cash flow has been "very strong" and that it has an "impeccable track record" of fulfilling debt obligations.

On the withdrawal of the offer, he said the interest of investors was the chief consideration for the move.

"The fundamentals of our company are very strong, our balance sheet is healthy and assets robust," Adani added.

Adani Enterprises late on Wednesday called off the share sale as a rout sparked by a US short-seller's criticisms wiped billions more off the value of the Indian tycoon's stocks.

Citigroup stops margin loans on Adani securities

Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc's wealth arm stopped accepting securities of Adani's group of firms as collateral for margin loans following short-seller Hindenburg Research's report, Bloomberg News reported.

Citigroup declined to comment on the report.

Citi's wealth unit decided to cut the loan-to-value ratio for credit against Adani securities to zero, said a source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The school-dropout-turned-billionaire has lost his title of Asia's richest man after a $100 billion rout in shares of his listed companies sparked by a US-based short-seller's scathing report.

Hindenburg Research had raised concerns about high debt at the group and accused it of improper use of entities set up in offshore tax havens — a charge the group denies.

Also on Thursday, trading was suspended in the shares of five more firms in Adani's beleaguered business empire after their prices plunged in opening trade.

Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission were all limit down after dropping 10 percent, while Adani Wilmar also hit its circuit-breaker when it fell five percent, Bombay Stock Exchange data showed.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies