Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal makes a big statement on promoter stake sale

As of March 31, 2024, Vedanta’s promoters held a 61.95% stake in the company, down from the 63.71% stake they held as of December 31, 2023.

In February this year, promoters had sold some stake in a block deal that was valued at over ₹2,615 crore.

“We have 62% – 61 point something percent of holding of the company and we are comfortable. Any investment banker comes and gives me some idea, we will work on it. (But) at this point of time, there is nothing on the cards to take our holding down below 61.5%,” Agarwal said.

Starting December 2022, Vedanta’s promoter shareholding has declined from nearly 70% to just over 60%.

Agarwal also addressed the other elephant in the room surrounding Vedanta, which is the debt at the promoter level. As he has maintained in the multiple interactions previously, he maintained that the debt remains comfortable and all obligations at the parent level will be taken care of.

“As of March 31, 2024, Vedanta’s promoters held a 61.95% stake in the company, down from the 63.71% stake they held as of December 31, 2023,” the Vedanta Group Chairman said. “I think we are very comfortable to address the debt. We have a good cash flow and good dividend that should take care of all the debt payment of VRM,” he added.

Speaking of dividends, Vedanta has distributed nearly ₹1 lakh crore as dividends in the last decade, according to a CNBC-TV18 analysis. The company paid dividends worth ₹29.5 in financial year 2024, ₹101.5 in financial year 2023 and ₹45 in financial year 2022. For financial year 2024, Vedanta’s dividend yield stood at 11%. You can read more on that here.

Shares of Vedanta Ltd. are trading 1.8% higher at ₹456.50. The stock has risen 78% in 2024 so far, marking its best calendar year performance since 2021, during which the stock had more than doubled in value.

Also Read: Vedanta may give out another ₹20 a share dividend