Hind Zinc falls as OFS opens

Hindustan Zinc is the top loser on the BSE since the opening bell today; from its Friday close of Rs.572.95, the stock price fell 8% to hit an intraday low at Rs.528.  Its 52-week high stands at Rs.807 and low at Rs.285.

The market is pretty disappointed with the OFS offer. Vedanta will be divesting 3.17% stake – base offer of 1.22%, with an option to sell an additional 1.95% if oversubscribed. This is more than the earlier announced stake sale of 2.6%. The OFS stake sale price, which opened today and will close on the 19th, is at Rs.486/share, which is at a 15% discount to Friday’s closing price.

The company is planning to issue a special dividend payout of Rs 8,000 crore to its shareholders for the current fiscal year. A board meeting is scheduled for August 20 to finalise the approval of this special dividend. Vedanta will be a big beneficiary of this as it owns around 65% stake and will receive more than Rs100 crore, which in turn will likely be used to bring down the debt; a drop in the ocean given that at end of Q1FY25, company’s debt stood at Rs.11,178 crore. The OFS proceeds too are proposed to be used to bring down the debt.