Hindustan Zinc is up sharply this morning, with the counter attracting buyers after the company's board approved special interim dividend of Rs 27.50 per share on Wednesday. The company has fixed 30 March 2017 as the record date for the payout.
Hindustan Zinc tops the chart on the National Stock Exchange this morning, with the counter clocking a turnover of over Rs 291 crore so far in the session, clocking a volume of around 9.13 million shares.
On BSE, the Hindustan Zinc counter has clocked a volume of around 1.17 million shares so far today.
The stock rose to Rs 322.10 and is currently trading at Rs 320, up 2.6% from previous closing price. It had touched a 52-week high of Rs 333.20 on 3 February 2017, rising more than 100% from a 52-week low of Rs 158.20 recorded on 8 April 2016.
The board of directors of the company on Wednesday approved special interim dividend of 1375% (Rs 27.50 per share of Rs 2 each) for the financial year 2016.17.
The payment of this dividend will result in an outflow of Rs 13,985 crore, including dividend distribution tax.
The company had paid a Golden Jubilee dividend in April 2016 and an interim dividend in October 2016. Thus, the aggregate dividend paid by Hindustan Zinc in the current financial year works out to Rs 27,157 crore including DDT. This is the largest dividend outflow by any company in the country in a single financial year. The government will get a total of Rs 11,259 crore of this dividend payout.
The Vedanta group company posted a net profit of Rs 2319.90 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2016 as compared to Rs 1839.58 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2015. Total income increased from Rs 4313.46 cror for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 to Rs 5972.16 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.
