BENGALURU (Reuters) -India’s Vedanta is confident of meeting its debt maturities of $2.7 billion this fiscal year and committed to bringing down its debt, its CFO said on Monday.
The company is committed to reducing debt as its “high-quality” assets continue to generate a healthy cash flow, Sonal Shrivastava said in a statement.
The company’s net debt as of July 24 was $7.2 billion with an average interest rate of 8.7%, Shrivastava said.
Earlier this year, S&P Global Ratings raised doubts about parent Vedanta Resources’ ability to meet financial obligations beyond September.
Vedanta Resources, in late April, said it had trimmed its gross debt by $1 billion as the firm sought to allay concerns over its ability to meet financial obligations.
While the company is set to enter the chips and displays manufacturing market this year after its joint-venture partner Foxconn pulled out of a $19.5-billion project, Shrivastava said Vedanta was “prudent” in raising capital.
Last week, the company reported a near-41% slump in first-quarter profit on weak commodity prices.
“As the global commodities market are recovering, we expect our top line and margins to improve further,” Shrivastava said.
(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Sohini Goswami)
