Confident of meeting liabilities: Vedanta
1 min read . Updated: 01 Mar 2023, 01:05 AM IST
Premium- The company said it has pre-paid all of its maturities due till March 2023 and has ‘deleveraged by $2 billion in the past 11 months’
NEW DELHI : Vedanta Resources said in a statement that it was “fully confident" that it would meet upcoming maturities for the quarter ending June 2023, despite concerns raised about its financials after Hindustan Zinc Ltd’s acquisition of Vedanta’s zinc assets got stuck due to the government opposition.
The company said it has pre-paid all of its maturities due till March 2023 and has ‘deleveraged by $2 billion in the past 11 months’. Thus, it has achieved half of its $4 billion 3-year debt reduction commitment in the first year, ahead of its plans for this fiscal.
Concerns were raised after HZL’s $2.98 billion plan to acquire Vedanta Ltd’s zinc assets was opposed by the government, which owns 30% of HZL. Government officials want HZL to explore alternative strategies without using its cash reserve.
“We would like the investors to note that Vedanta group operating companies, underpinned by strong operating profitability from diversified and low-cost tier-1 assets, are delivering healthy cash flows whilst maintaining disciplined capital allocation. During FY 2022, Vedanta Ltd delivered an Ebitda of $6.1 billion and free cash flow (pre capex) of $3.6 billion. Vedanta is fully confident of meeting its upcoming maturities in the quarter ending June 23," the company said.
The company added that they have multiple options for ‘both refinancing as well as repayment through internal accruals’. “We are in the advanced stage to tie up required financing through a $1 billion fresh loan from a syndicate of banks. We are also close to finalize $750 million bilateral facilities with various relationship banks. The remaining liquidity requirements can be addressed internally," the company said.
The statement added that Vedanta Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, does not have any pledge except 6.8% of HZL’s shares.