Vedanta to pay third interim dividend at Rs 17.5 per equity share

So far, the company's dividend payout in FY23 stands at Rs 25,465 crore, more than the FY22 number of Rs 16,740 crore

Metals and mining major Vedanta, on Tuesday, announced a third interim dividend of Rs 17.5 per equity share, resulting in an outflow of Rs 6,505 crore. The company said that its board of directors had approved the dividend payout, whose record date has been fixed for November 30.

So far, the Anil-Agarwal-led firm has announced three rounds of dividends in the 2022-23 financial year (FY23), taking its total dividend payout this year to Rs 25,465 crore. This is more than the total dividend paid by the company in FY22, which stood at Rs 16,740 crore, according to data compiled by BS Research Bureau.

The dividend announcements by Vedanta come at a time when Vedanta Resources, which owns 69.7 per cent of Vedanta, has been looking to deleverage its balance sheet.

Ratings agency Moody's had said in a recent report that the holding company (Vedanta Resources) had set a target of $4 billion (or Rs 32,000 crore) by way of deleveraging in the next three years.

Vedanta Resources had, incidentally, discontinued its ratings engagement with Moody's this month, after the latter had slashed its debt to junk, saying fundraising efforts by the parent would take longer than expected.

In April, Vedanta had announced an interim dividend of Rs 31.5 per share, resulting in an outflow of Rs 11,710 crore. Of this, Rs 8,162 crore was received by Vedanta Resources. The second interim dividend of Rs 19.5 per share was announced in July, resulting in an outflow of Rs 7,250 crore.

Vedanta, for the uninitiated, was the top dividend-paying firm in FY22, followed by companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, HCL Technologies, Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Unilever, Hindustan Zinc, Indian Tobacco Company, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries among others in the top 20 list.

Shares of Vedanta ended trade on Tuesday at Rs 310.05 apiece on the BSE, up 0.71 per cent over the previous day's close. Its market capitalisation, after the day’s session, stood at Rs 1.15 trillion.