Adani Power gains 4%, hits new high on DB Power deal; up 47% in one month

The acquisition of DB Power's thermal power assets will help the company to expand its offerings and operations in the thermal power sector in the state of Chhattisgarh.

Shares of Adani Power hit a new high of Rs 428.20, up 4 per cent on the BSE in Monday's intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market, after the company said it has agreed to acquire the thermal power assets of DB Power for the enterprise value of nearly Rs 7,017 crore. At 09:32 am, Adani Power traded 3 per cent higher at Rs 423.50, as compared to 0.7 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

DB Power owns and operates a running 2x600 MW thermal power plant at District Janjgir Champa in Chhattisgarh, and had a turnover of Rs 3,488 crore for the fiscal 2021-22 (FY22). DB Power has long and medium-term power purchase agreements for 923.5 MW of its capacity, backed by fuel supply agreements with Coal India, and has been operating its facilities profitably.

"The acquisition will help to expand its offerings and operations in the thermal power sector in the state of Chhattisgarh. The proposed transaction is subject to receipt of approval from the Competition Commission of India and any other approvals as may be identified following the due diligence exercise to be conducted with respect to DPPL and DB Power," the company said.

Meanwhile, in the past one month, Adani Power has outperformed the market by surging 47 per cent as against a 6 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Over the past six months, the stock has zoomed 255 per cent as compared to 3 per cent gain in the benchmark index.

The sharp rally in the stock price was triggered after the company reported 17-fold jump in its consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 4,780 crore in the June quarter (Q1FY23). The Adani Group electric utility company had posted PAT of Rs 278 crore in Q1FY22.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (ebitda) jumped 227 per cent YoY to Rs 7,506 crore. The growth was aided by prior period income recognition, improved tariff realisation, and change in sales mix, partially offset by impact of higher fuel cost, increased operating expenses owing to acquisition of Mahan Energen, unfavourable foreign exchange movement, etc.

"A number of reforms undertaken by the Indian government have strengthened the Indian power sector. These comprise fuel linkages under the Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (Coal) Transparently in India (SHAKTI) and the Ujwal DISCOMS Assurance Yojana (UDAY) to catalyse the transformation of power distribution companies," Adani Power said in its FY22 annual report.

The complement of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) for rural electrification and Pradhan Mantri Har Ghar Sahaj Bijli Yojana (Saubhagya) initiatives has been directed to enhance electricity availability to the last person through a widening network and policies directed to enhance the viability of distribution companies, the company said.

Adani Power further said that the availability of reliable and economic power supply is a major driver of comprehensive growth. It is an essential factor for improvement in the human development index and industrial growth.

Power demand in India is expected to witness sustainable growth owing to the government’s thrust on Make-in-India, growth in disposable incomes and standard of living as well as growing industrialization. India’s peak electricity demand is expected to be around 340 GW by 2030 compared to a peak demand of 203 GW in 2021 as per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the company said.

Technical View

Bias: Positive

Support: Rs 415

Resistance: Rs 430, Rs 458

The stock has been trading with a positive bias, and has logged back-to-back gains in the last seven weeks. The stock has rallied almost 57 per cent during that period.

Currently, the stock is trading above the higher-end of the Bollinger Band on the daily, weekly and monthly charts. The near term bias will likely remain extremely bullish as long as the stock sustains above Rs 415 - i.e. the higher-end of the Bolligner Band on the daily chart, below which the next major support will be around Rs 400.

Given the steep rally, select momentum oscillators on both, the daily and weekly, charts are in the overbought zone; hence one may excercise caution at higher levels.

On the upside, the stock is currently testing resistance around Rs 430-level, above which it can spurt to Rs 458.

(With inputs from Rex Cano)