Vedanta shares rise after the mining giant pays down $400 million in debt, bringing its total debt down to $6.4 billion
On Thursday, June 1, the share price of Vedanta Ltd. traded slightly higher as a result of remarks made by the company’s chairman, Anil Agarwal, who predicted that Vedanta would have a market value of more than $1 trillion over the next ten years. At 9:41 am IST, Vedanta shares were up 0.47% to Rs. 279.60 a share. The company has lost approximately 11% of its value so far this year, and Vedanta share returns over the last year have also decreased by almost 11%.
Agarwal said in a speech to the firm’s shareholders on Wednesday, “Our aim is that Vedanta will be a corporation worth more than one trillion dollars in the next ten years. We shall create our own oil, gas, and copper, he said.
The parent company of mining behemoth Vedanta (VEDL), Vedanta Resources (VRL), which has its headquarters in London, has announced that it has serviced all of its maturing loans and bonds totaling $1.4 billion that were due in May and June, bringing its gross debt down to $6.4 billion from $7.8 billion at the end of March this year. $2 billion in bonds issued by the diversified natural resources firm are due in 2024, representing a record-high yearly cost for the mining industry.
The company’s gross debt has decreased from $6.8 billion in April 2023, $7.8 billion in March 2023, and $9.7 billion in March 2022 to $6.4 billion now.
Anil Agarwal said on Monday that he hopes to become VRL debt-free within the next three years.
In lieu of a $250 million loan, VRL stated on Tuesday that it had given its competitor Glencore 4.4% of its total share in VEDL.
Vedanta, headed by Anil Agarwal, released its Q4FY23 results earlier this month. Profit for the firm fell by 56.3% year over year (YoY) to Rs. 2,634 crore from Rs. 6,027 crore in the preceding equivalent quarter. Revenue for the firm dropped 5.4% to Rs. 37,225 crore from Rs. 39,342 crore in the same period last year. For the fiscal year 2022–2023, the mining giant issued its fourth and fifth interim dividends, each at Rs. 12.50 and Rs. 20.50 per equity share.
The two benchmark indexes, the Sensex and Nifty 50, were up 0.096% and 0.095% at 62,682.52 points and 18,552.05 points, respectively, at 10:24 IST, reflecting a strong trading day for the Indian equities market.
