Shares of Adani Group and Special Economic Zone Ltd (Adani Ports) fell by about 4% in early trading on Monday as Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP tendered their resignation as statutory auditor of the company and its material subsidiaries. This has also led to the fall in the value of shares of Adani Industries Ltd.

In July 2022, Adani Ports had reappointed Deloitte as its statutory auditor for another term of five years but in its recent meeting indicated a lack of a wider audit role as auditors of other listed Adani portfolio companies. According to Adani Ports, this was the main reason for resigning as their statutory auditor. Following the development, the Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd stock fell 3.61 per cent to hit a low of Rs 771.70 on BSE.

"The Audit Committee was of the view that the grounds advanced for resignation as statutory auditor were not convincing or sufficient to warrant such a move. It was also conveyed that it is not within the remit of the APSEZ and its board to recommend group-wide appointments as other listed Adani portfolio companies are completely independent, with separate boards, executive teams and minority shareholders," Adani Ports said.

Following this, Deloitte was not willing to continue as APSEZ’s statutory auditor and, therefore, it was agreed to amicably end the client-auditor contractual relationship between APSEZ and Deloitte, Adani Ports told stock exchanges.

Refuting any rumours, Deloitte confirmed that it had received all information regarding Adani Ports from the management of the company. "The ’Other Matters’ highlighted in the auditor’s resignation are adequately disclosed and addressed in our FY23 financial statements. We are fully confident that these matters will be appropriately resolved in our September 2023 filing," Adani Ports said.

Meanwhile, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone has now gone ahead and appointed MSKA and Associates Chartered Accountants as its new auditor. G. K. Pillai, Chairman of the Audit Committee of APSEZ, stated, "The Audit Committee/Board is pleased to appoint M/s. M S K A & Associates, a member firm of BDO International, a Top 6 global audit firm, as APSEZ's auditor."  

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