Hind Zinc falls as OFS opens

about 3 months ago

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.

491.4 (+5.95)