Vedanta shares hit 52-week high ahead of board meet for dividend payout, fundraising

Shares of Vedanta rose over 2% to hit a fresh 52-week high in early trade on Tuesday ahead of its board meeting on May 16 to consider the first interim dividend payment for the current fiscal and fundraising proposal. Billionaire Anil Agarwal-led metal and mining company has a consistent track record of paying dividends to its shareholders, with a current dividend yield of 7.04%. In the past 12 months, Vedanta has declared an equity dividend amounting to ₹29.50 per share, while it declared 41 dividends since July 23, 2001, as per Trendlyne data, a stock market platform.

Continuing its gaining streak for the third straight session, Vedanta shares opened higher at ₹420.65 against the previous closing price of ₹413.95 on the BSE. In the first hour of trade so far, the mining heavyweight rose as much as 2.5% to hit a new 52-week high of ₹424.20, while the market capitalisation climbed to ₹1.55 lakh crore.

The share price of Vedanta has more than doubled from its 52-week low of ₹207.85 touched on September 28, 2023. In the last one year, the largecap stock has risen nearly 51%, while it surged 74% in the past six months, and 62% on year-to-date (YTD). The counter added nearly 13% in the past one month.

In an exchange filing last evening, Vedanta said the meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on May 16, 2024. The board will consider and approve first interim dividend on equity shares for the financial year 2024-25. “The record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement of the equity shareholders for the said dividend, if declared, is being fixed as Saturday, May 25, 2024,” the release notes.

The board will also consider raising of funds by issue of equity shares or any other securities convertible into equity shares or a combination of such securities, subject to regulatory approvals. The capital will be raised through public offer, rights issue, American depository receipts/global depository receipts/foreign currency convertible bonds, qualified institutions placement, preferential issue or any other method, as per the release.

In a separate filing, Vedanta said that its oil and gas arm, Cairn Oil & Gas, recorded a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 19% in its reserves and resources(R&R) portfolio to 1.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bnboe). The total R&R additions exceeded production during FY24, resulting in a resource replacement ratio of 533% compared to 108% in the last fiscal year. The private oil and gas explorer has also recorded a substantial increase in its Gross Contingent (2C) resources to 1,126 Bnboe, a YoY growth of 33%.

Cairn has a portfolio of 62 blocks covering an acreage of more than 60,000 sq kms in India. The company plans to drill up to 20 exploration wells by 2025 targeting around 500 million barrel of oil equivalent gross unrisked prospective resources.

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