Vedanta Declares Rs 18.50 Interim Dividend

Vedanta Ltd, part of the Anil Agarwal metals and mining conglomerate, has declared an interim dividend of Rs.18.50 per share. This entails a total dividend pay-out of Rs.6,877 crore. This is the first dividend payout for the current fiscal and the record date for the dividend payout has been set as 09-September 2021.

That essentially means that shareholders whose names appear in the register of shareholders as of the close of 09-Sep will be eligible for the dividend. Considering the T+2 rolling settlement in the market, the last cum-dividend date, when investors can buy Vedanta for the dividend, will be 07-Sep. From 08-Sep, the stock will trade ex-dividend.

Vedanta had reported record profits of Rs.5,282 crore in the Jun-21 quarter spurred by robust demand for minerals and ores as well as a sharp spurt in prices on the London Metals Exchange (LME). Commodity companies typically operate in cycles and the last 1 year has seen a positive cycle for most commodity companies in terms of demand and pricing.

Vedanta Resources, the parent of Vedanta Ltd, has widespread mineral interests spread across India, South Africa, Namibia and Australia and is one of the largest minerals and mining companies in the world. Globally, Vedanta Resources competes with international mining giants like Rio Tinto and Broken Hill Proprietary.

There is an interesting point to note in this dividend declaration. Hindustan Zinc, in which Vedanta Ltd holds 64.9%, had fixed 26-August as the record date for dividend payment. However, on 17-Aug, Hindustan Zinc decided to defer the dividend payment decision. 

As per the dividend distribution policy of Vedanta, it is supposed to pass on dividends paid by Hindustan Zinc to its shareholders. However, in May-2020, the Rs.4,500 crore dividend paid out by Hindustan Zinc to Vedanta was not passed on to the shareholders.

Also Read: Do You Own High Dividend Paying Stocks?

High Dividend Yeilding Stocks