Vedanta board okays interim dividend of Rs 9.50 per share

New Delhi: Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta has said its board approved the first interim dividend of Rs 9.50 per equity share for the current fiscal year. The dividend payout will amount to Rs 3,500 crore, the company informed exchanges. Earlier, the company had informed that the record date for the dividend was set as October 31, 2020.

“The board of directors of the company through resolution passed by circulation on Saturday, October 24, 2020, have approved first interim dividend of Rs 9.50 per equity share i.e. 950 per cent on face value of Re 1 per share for the Financial Year 2020-21 amounting to Rs 3,500 crore,” Vedanta Ltd said in a filing to BSE.

The company further mentioned that the interim dividend will be paid within stipulated timelines as prescribed under law. 

On Friday, Vedanta shares had closed with gains of 0.29 per cent at Rs 104.80 apiece.

Worth mentioning here that market was keenly watching Vedanta interim dividend declaration after Hindustan Zinc (HZL), a subsidiary of Vedanta, declared its highest interim dividend in 12 years at Rs 21.3 per share amounting to Rs 9,000 crore. It had announced an interim dividend of Rs 16.50 per share in May.

Earlier this month, the metal and mining conglomerate had announced that its voluntary delisting offer had failed after lower than required shares were offered. The total number of shares tendered by public shareholders fell 7 per cent short of the compulsory minimum of 90 per cent for successful delisting. As part of the process, Vedanta would return all the equity shares that were tendered.  

A total of 125.47 crore shares were tendered by shareholders against the 169.73 crore shares sought by promoters. It came as a huge jolt to billionaire Aggarwal to restructure his group’s businesses.

In a regulatory filing, the company had said its buyback offer is deemed to have failed as per the terms of the delisting regulations after promoter Vedanta Resources did not receive the required number of shares to delist the firm.