Mumbai: Shares of Vedanta Ltd rallied after India’s biggest base metals producer announced a record dividend worth $1.2 billion, potentially helping its London-listed parent pare debt.
Vedanta, owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal, reversed from a loss to rise as much as 2.1% to Rs323.80 in Mumbai after its board approved Rs21.2 a share for a payout of Rs7,881 crore, its best-ever dividend and topping a record last year. A 7.5% payment on preference shares took the total to Rs8,091 crore for the fiscal year through March.
At 2.43pm, Vedanta shares were trading 0.96% up at Rs320 on BSE, while the Sensex was down 0.54% to 33,732.69 points.
The dividend, which is about double market expectations, will allow parent Vedanta Resources Plc to trim some of its borrowings, Goutam Chakraborty, an analyst at Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd, said by phone from Mumbai.
Vedanta Resources’ debt was almost $18 billion at the end of the last fiscal year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, while Vedanta Ltd owed $11 billion. The Mumbai-based company mines and produces a variety of metals, including copper, zinc and aluminium. Base metals traded in London have risen 17% over the past year. Bloomberg