India's scandal-hit Adani Enterprises back to profit

The conglomerate has been working to restore market confidence by pledging early repayment

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's flagship firm returned to profit in the December quarter, earnings reports showed Tuesday, as the tycoon insisted his businesses would bounce back from damaging corporate fraud allegations. Investors wiped out around $120 billion in value from Adani Group after US short-seller investment group Hindenburg Research last month accused it of using offshore tax havens to manipulate stock prices. Indian regulators confirmed Monday that they were probing allegations raised in the report for potential instances of securities fraud and insider trading. The conglomerate has been working to restore market confidence by pledging early repayment of $1.1 billion in loans, and shares in its listed entities have since recovered from their rout. Flagship Adani Enterprises posted a net profit of 8.2 billion rupees ($99 million) for the three months to December, up from a loss of 116 million rupees from a year before, in a filing Tuesday. "Our success is due to our strong governance, strict regulatory compliance, sustained performance, and solid cashflow generation," Adani, 60, said in the earnings report. "The current market volatility is temporary," he added, saying the company was committed to keeping leverage "moderate" and looking for growth opportunities. Revenue jumped 42 percent on-year to 269 billion rupees ($3.3 billion). Adani Enterprises shares closed 1.9 percent higher in Mumbai. The company's founder was until last month Asia's richest man but the stock market rout delivered a dramatic hit to his personal fortune, tumbling him down from third to 23rd on Forbes' real-time billionaires' list.