Vedanta Resources pays USD 400 mn debt, borrowings down to USD 6.4 bn

Vedanta Resources Limited (Vedanta), the parent company of Mumbai-listed mining giant Vedanta Ltd, on Wednesday said it has further repaid USD 400 million of loans, cutting gross debt to USD 6.4 billion. In a statement, the firm helmed by billionaire Anil Agarwal said it ”has paid all its maturing loans and bonds due in May and June 2023.. ”As such, gross debt has further reduced to USD 6.4 billion, a USD 3.3 billion reduction since Vedanta announced its deleveraging ambition in March 2022,” it said. CreditSights, a Fitch Group firm, had last week stated that it saw lower refinancing risk for Vedanta Resources Ltd’s (VRL) near-term debt maturities on a new USD 850 million loan refinancing. ”Looking ahead, while we estimate more funds need to be raised to fully fund VRL’s estimated USD 2.1 billion of FY24 (April 2023 to March 2024 fiscal year) debt refinancing needs (USD 850 million covered, implying a gap of USD 1.25 billion), we think VRL still has multiple funding avenues to tap onto. These include share pledges and dividend upstreaming,” it had said. The firm had last on April 24 stated that it had cut gross debt to USD 6.8 billion after repayments. ”Vedanta is targeting further debt reduction during the balance of FY24, and ultimately intends to lower gross debt towards zero,” the company statement said Wednesday. ”This will be aided by our expectations of robust demand, particularly in India, coupled with strong operational performance from our world-class asset base..