Vedanta Ltd issued a clarification on July 9 with regard to short seller Viceroy Research's report on its parent firm Vedanta Resources by terming it as "a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations".
"Viceroy Research report is a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations to discredit the Group," said Vedanta in a stock exchange filing.
"It has been issued without making any attempt to contact us with the sole objective creating false propaganda. It only contains compilation of various information - which is already in the public domain, but the authors have tried to sensationalise the context to profiteer from market reaction," added Vedanta.
Vedanta further said the timing of the report is 'suspect'.
"The timing of the report is suspect and could be to undermine the forthcoming corporate initiatives. Our stakeholders are discerning enough to understand such tactics. In fact, to avoid any responsibility – authors of the report have added various disclaimers that the report has been prepared for educational purposes only and expresses their opinions and are not statements of fact.
"We remain focused on the business and growth, and request everyone to avoid speculation and unsubstantiated allegations," said Vedanta.
U.S.-based Viceroy Research has taken a short position against the debt of Vedanta Resources, the UK-based parent of Indian miner Vedanta, alleging that the British firm is "systematically draining" its Indian unit.
The report comes as Vedanta plans to split into multiple separate listed entities. Group Chairman Anil Agarwal launched the plan in 2023 to overhaul the business following an unsuccessful attempt to take Vedanta private in 2020.
Vedanta Resources said in June 2024 that it will seek to cut its debt pile by $3 billion in the following three years.
"The entire group structure is financially unsustainable, operationally compromised, and poses a severe, under-appreciated risk to creditors," short seller Viceroy Research said, adding that its investigation had uncovered material quantitative and qualitative discrepancies.
Shares of the Indian miner fell as much as 7.8% after the report, before trimming some losses to trade 3.3% lower by 2:20 pm on July 9. The shares were down roughly 1% before the report.
As of March 31, 2025, Vedanta Resources' net debt on a standalone basis stood at $4.9 billion, according to its annual report.
Vedanta approved dividends worth Rs 75,800 crore in the last four fiscal years, while its unit Hindustan Zinc declared Rs 57,300 crore as dividends over the same period, exchange filings show. Vedanta Resources holds 56.38% in Vedanta and 61.62% in Hindustan Zinc.
With inputs from Reuters
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