On March 28, Vedanta will consider paying a fifth interim dividend

24 Mar 2023 , 06:48 AM

The board of Vedanta Ltd. will meet on March 28, 2023, to discuss and approve the fifth interim dividend on equity shares, if any, for the fiscal year 2022–2023 according to a notification the company sent to stock exchanges on Thursday.

The business noted that April 7, 2023, has been set as the record date for establishing the equity shareholders’ eligibility for the dividend if announced.

Vedanta previously announced an intermediate dividend schedule that included payments of Rs12.5 per share in February (ex-date), Rs17.50 in November, Rs19.5 in July, and Rs31.50 in April.

Almost 70% of Vedanta is owned by Agarwal’s Vedanta Resources Ltd.

According to a Bloomberg report, Vedanta Resources may rely on dividends from its subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Ltd. to help repay the $400 million in dollar-denominated bonds due in April. On Tuesday, Hindustan Zinc said that it would pay an interim dividend of Rs26 per share or roughly Rs11,000 crore.

Globally rising interest rates have put pressure on debtors with low credit ratings who have large debt loads, like Vedanta. The Vedanta Group and its affiliate Hindustan Zinc reached an agreement in January to sell a zinc manufacturing company for $2.98 billion over 18 months. Hindustan Zinc is owned by the Indian government, which is vehemently opposed to the deal.

Vedanta Resources said in a February filing with the exchange that it had reduced its net debt from $7.7 billion to $2 billion in the current fiscal year and will continue to do so in the following two fiscal years.

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