Vedanta Resources Repays USD 869 Million in Bonds

New Delhi, Oct 9 (PTI) Vedanta Resources Ltd has said it paid USD 869 million to bondholders in October to redeem bonds three to four years ahead of maturity.

The repayments are part of a larger liquidity management exercise under which Vedanta Resources Finance II PLC (VRF) -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Ltd -- is repaying bonds with a higher interest rate to save on interest costs.

VRF has repaid USD 869 million to bondholders holding 13.875 per cent bonds due in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

According to the company's various Singapore exchange filings, the payments were made in multiple phases during October.

For the 13.875 per cent bonds due in 2027, the company repaid USD 470 million, as per filings on October 4 and October 9.

As per VRF's exchange filing, with the repayment on October 4, the 2027 bonds have been fully redeemed and are no longer outstanding.

Similarly, the company has repaid USD 399 million to those holding its 13.875 per cent bonds due in 2028.

As per a September 11 filing, redemption of bonds due in 2027 and 2028 and refinancing them with new bonds due in 2029 will result in an interest saving of three per cent per annum for VRF.

Recent steps to deleverage the balance sheet at the London-based Vedanta Resources Ltd and its Indian subsidiary Vedanta Ltd have caused a rally in the bonds issued by the group entities.

According to Vedanta's latest investor presentation, VRL's standalone debt was reduced by almost USD 4.5 billion from USD 9.7 billion in March 2022 to USD 5.2 billion in September 2024.

The Vedanta Group is a globally diversified natural resource group engaged in exploring, extracting and processing minerals and oil and gas.

It has operations in India, Namibia, Ireland, South Africa, Liberia, UAE, Zambia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, and is primarily engaged in the businesses of aluminium, zinc-lead-silver, oil and gas, copper, iron ore, steel and commercial power generation.