HZL will pay an interim dividend of Rs 10,990 crore at a rate of 1,300% of the face value

According to an exchange statement on Tuesday, the Rajasthan-based miner would pay an interim dividend of 26 rupees per share. HZL will pay an interim dividend of Rs 10,990 crore at a rate of 1,300% of the face value.

HZL will pay a fourth dividend of Rs 10,990 crore ($1.3 billion) to shareholders this year, which will assist billionaire Anil Agarwal (pictured) satisfy debt commitments at the parent business.

According to an exchange statement on Tuesday, the Rajasthan-based miner would pay an interim dividend of Rs 26 per share or 1,300% of the face value of Rs 2 per share. Agarwal’s Vedanta, which owns around 65 percent of Hindustan Zinc, and the Indian government, which controls approximately 30 percent, will be the primary benefactors.

Vedanta Resources, situated in London, is the ultimate holding company.

The decision would provide some respite to Agarwal, who has been forced to rely increasingly on dividends following the Indian government’s opposition to his proposal to sell the group’s foreign zinc business to Hindustan Zinc Ltd for around $3 billion. Dividends are normally declared twice a year in India; this payment would be Hindustan Zinc’s fourth for the fiscal year through March.

To assuage investor concerns about the firm’s liquidity and capacity to service forthcoming commitments, Vedanta Resources has already reduced its net debt by $2 billion this year — half of its three-year targeted reduction pledge, the company said in February.

After three interim payments of 49.50 per share and a dividend yield of 15.50 percent, Hindustan Zinc Limited would contemplate a fourth interim dividend in the fiscal year 2022-23. The company’s board of directors will evaluate the request for interim dividend payment at its meeting on March 21, 2023, which is today. The state-owned corporation has already set March 29, 2023, as the record date for dividend payments.

Informing Indian exchanges about the board meeting schedule and record date for interim dividend, Hindustan Zinc Ltd said, “In terms of Regulation 29 and 42 of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 we wish to inform you that the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company will be held on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, to consider fourth interim dividend on equity shares, if any, for the Financial Year 2022-23.”

In the preceding three interim dividends, Hindustan Zinc went ex-dividend on July 20, 2022, with a payment of 21 per share interim dividends for FY23. Subsequently, on 23rd November 2022, it traded ex-dividend for payment of 15.50 per share interim dividend, and on 30th January 2023, it traded ex-dividend for payment of 13 per share interim dividend due for FY23. As a result, Hindustan Zinc announced a dividend of 49.50 (21 + 15.50 + 13) per share in FY23.