Vedanta share price rises after Anil Agarwal says ‘$1 billion is peanuts for us’, dismisses debt concerns

Anil Agarwal said that the Vedanta group’s commodities businesses were ‘throwing off enough cash’ and expects $9 bln of profit across the group for the coming year, adding that ‘$1bn is peanuts for us.’

Vedanta share price, Anil Agarwal vedanta debt

Anil Agarwal's statement came as a relief to investors as the shares of Vedanta have fallen over 7% in the past one month while the stock has tanked nearly 23% in the last one year.

Vedanta share price rose 0.53% to Rs 286.60 on Thursday after the group’s chairman Anil Agarwal assured investors that the company has enough funds to pay upcoming debt maturities worth $900 mln. The billionaire in an interview said that the group’s commodities businesses were ‘throwing off enough cash’ and expects $9 bln of profit across the group for the coming year, adding that ‘$1bn is peanuts for us.’ The statement came as a relief to investors as the shares of Vedanta have fallen over 7% in the past one month while the stock has tanked nearly 23% in the last one year. “Vedanta has less than $13 bln total debt and becoming a zero-debt company is not a distant dream, but a medium-term, achievable goal,” Anil Agarwal said.

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Hindustan Zinc sale still a thorn in Vedanta’s side

Recently, Anil Agarwal asked the government to sell its 29% stake in Hindustan Zinc, as they had agreed to sell a 100% stake 20 years ago. Anil Agarwal added that the government must accelerate the process, and that it had agreed to divest the remaining stake to Vedanta under a particular formula. Agarwal further said that the government could probably make Rs 40,000-50,000 crore from the deal. He added that the company has to be run by the board and not by the government. “Government has agreed that they will sell 100% share 20 years back. So how much will you hold our leg and not allow us to run? They have to take a decision to disinvest this 29%. The company has to be run by the board and not by the government,” Anil Agarwal said.

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