Adani Ports has now appointed MSKA & Associates Chartered Accountants, which is one of the top six global audit firms, as the company's new auditor.

All ten Adani Group stocks have opened lower on Monday with Adani Enterprises emerging as the top loser on the Nifty 50 index. While Adani Enterprises is down over 5 percent in early trade, Adani Ports is down 3.2 percent. Both stocks are among the top five losers on the Nifty 50 index.

Besides Ports and Enterprises, all other Adani Group companies are also trading with losses between 3-5 percent.

Adani Enterprises is now trading with volumes that are four times higher than the 20-day average at this time of the day. Adani Ports volumes are seven times higher than the 20-day average at this time of the day.

Adani Group flagship companies Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and other group companies are in focus after the board of Adani Ports accepted the resignation of Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP as the company's auditor.

Adani Ports has now appointed MSKA & Associates Chartered Accountants, which is one of the top six global audit firms, as the company's new auditor.

Additionally, today is also the deadline for the market regulator SEBI's probe into the Adani-Hindenburg matter. After a plea from the market regulator, the Supreme Court had allowed SEBI time till August 14 to complete the probe.

While the case was supposed to be listed today for hearing, CNBC-TV18 learns from lawyers that the case is due to be listed on August 29.

Brokerage firm CLSA said that the Adani Group has had many auditor changes recently. The brokerage said that it continues to see Adani Ports as a buying opportunity. However, the Deloitte resignation may see some correction in the stock. CLSA has a buy rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 878.

Jefferies believes that while auditor resignations are viewed as a negative, but replacement with a reputed auditor gives some comfort. On the operational front, Adani Ports' medium-term double digit growth should continue as Mundra's market share gain story is replicated at the acquired ports.

Jefferies has a buy rating on the stock of Adani Ports with a price target of Rs 890.

Shares of Adani Ports are already trading above the level before which the Hindenburg Research Report was released later in January. It has recovered all the losses and is currently trading 2.75 percent lower on a year-to-date basis.

First Published: Aug 14, 2023 8:59 AM IST