Hindustan Zinc Dividend: Hindustan Zinc Ltd board has approved fourth interim dividend of Rs 26 per equity share for the current fiscal. The dividend outgo amounts to about Rs 10,985 crore.
The interim dividend is 1,300 per cent on face value of Rs 2 per equity share.Board of Directors of the Company in its meeting held on March 21, 2023 have approved Fourth interim dividend of Rs 26/- per equity share i.e. 1300 percent on face value of Rs. 2/- per share for the Financial Year 2022-23 amounting to Rs 10985.83 Crores," the regulatory filing stated.
The interim dividend will be paid within stipulated timelines as prescribed under law, the exchange filing further noted.
The record date for the purpose of payment of the fourth interim dividend is set on March 29.The interim dividend will be paid to shareholders whose names appear on the register of members of the company or in the records of the depositories as beneficial owners of the shares as on the record date.
The company’s shares go ex-dividend a day or two before the record date. When a company goes ex-dividend on a particular date, its stock does not carry the value of the next dividend payment. An ex-dividend date also dictates which shareholders are eligible to receive the dividend payment.
Vedanta holds a 64.92% equity share of Hindustan Zinc ltd, which is an integrated producer of zinc, lead and silver.
In January 2023, the firm had announced an interim dividend of Rs 13 a share. The company had declared a dividend of Rs 15.50 per share in November 2022. The company declared a Rs 21 dividend for its stockholders in July 2022.
The company, in the last financial results released for the quarter ending December 31, 2022, reported a 20.17 per cent drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,156 crore and announced that revenue from operations also fell 2.71 per cent to Rs 7,628 crore for the quarter ended December 2022.
The government is the largest minority shareholder in Hindustan Zinc, an integrated producer of zinc, lead and silver, with a 29.54 percent stake.
Last month, the government has opposed Vedanta Ltd’s proposal to sell its international zinc business to Hindustan Zinc Ltd for $2.98 billion over concerns of valuation.
The government has threatened to take legal action to stop the sale of the Africa-based assets to HZL, in which it holds a 29.54 per cent stake.
HZL, in January, agreed to buy THL Zinc Ltd Mauritius from its parent, Vedanta Ltd, for $2.98 billion in phases over 18 months.
The Rajasthan-based company has long been a cash cow for Agarwal’s Vedanta group, squeezing out rich dividends. The latest proposed transaction is being seen as another way of extracting more funds out of HZL.