Corporate Grapevine     

Published: May 15, 2024
Updated: May 15, 2024

Adani Port shares ride Norges exit

Despite the news of Norway’s central bank Norges Bank’s exit, the stock of AP&SEZ remains stable. The markets ignored the news as the stock remained positive and closed 0.31% higher at Rs 1,342. In fact, an ‘Overweight’ rating by Morgan Stanley, which got released on the same day, guided for a target price of Rs 1,517.

Adani Ports & SEZ had sold the Myanmar asset entirely in May last year, and there have been no incremental disclosures made regarding that asset as the company has fully exited. The Norwegian Fund started buying into the company afterwards in mid-October and made nearly 70% on its first purchase in 6 months, until it exited in April. They did not reach out to the company regarding the Myanmar asset at any point, say company insiders

The Norwegian Fund, the sovereign fund of Norway, which derives most of its income from sales of oil and gas, has excluded several companies. With the recent addition of Adani Ports, the total number Indian companies excluded by the fund are now 26. But there are many large global names as well, some quite big, that the fund has excluded. The total number of companies either excluded or put under observation by the fund are 197, including several Japanese, Chinese, American and European companies. Interestingly, Warren Buffet-owned Berkshire Hathway Energy is also under observation. Other major global names excluded by the Norwegian Fund include Airbus, Boeing, Honeywell International, BHP Group, Vale, and Posco Holdings.

Other listed Indian companies in Norges’ hit list inclule ITC, Page Industries, Sanjiv Goenka-owned CESC, ONGC, NTPC, NHPC, BHEL and BEL — all excluded by the Norwegian Fund.

Major names in the Norwegian Fund’s exclusion/under observation list include ITC for production of tobacco, Page Industries (owner of the ‘Jockey’ brand) for violation of human rights, Tata Power for production of coal and coal-based energy, CESC (promoted by Sanjiv Goenka, also owner of the LSG IPL team) for production of coal or coal-based energy, ONGC for serious violations of individuals’ rights in situations of war or conflict, and Vedanta for severe environmental damage. Others in Norges’ list for various reasons include NTPC, NHPC, BHEL, BEL, Zuari Agro.