Vedanta plans Rs 2 billion capex in FY24, doubling it from FY23

The company said that dividends from the profit will also help the parent company, Vedanta Resources, pare its debt. Vedanta Resources plans to reduce debt by $4 billion in the next three years.

Mining and metals company Vedanta Ltd is planning to spend Rs 2 billion on capital expenditure (capex) across businesses in FY24, doubling it from the FY23 capex, senior management said over a conference call on April 28.

The company reported a five percent year-on-year decline in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 7,261 crore for the fourth quarter of 2022-23 as it had a significantly higher base in the previous year due to exceptional items. The company said that the PAT, before the exceptional item and one-time tax credit, was Rs 7,570 crore, up 48 percent on-year. The consolidated quarterly revenue for the March quarter was Rs 39,342 crore, up 41 percent on-year.

The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) for FY23 was over $6 billion, of which around $2 billion came from the fourth quarter. The management said that if the commodity prices remain at the current escalated levels and with the company’s cost-effective measure towards integration, it could clock EBITDA of $8 billion in fiscal 2023-24.

“We are a business which could go to $30 billion of revenues and maybe $12 billion-$13 billion of EBITDA. We will have $2 billion for capex and the other needs of the business,” said Sunil Duggal, Group Chief Executive Officer.

Duggal said that with these projections he sees potential free cash at $8 billion, which would be used for deleveraging the balance sheet.

In a recent interview with Moneycontrol, Chairman Anil Agarwal said that the company has the potential to have revenue of $50 billion.

The company said that dividends from the profit will also help the parent company, Vedanta Resources, pare its debt. Vedanta Resources plans to reduce debt by $4 billion in the next three years.

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