Vedanta Ltd., owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal, features among the stocks with the highest dividend yield in the world. The company has doled out nearly $6 billion or ₹50,000 crore as dividend since financial year 2023.
With a 12-month dividend yield of 26.2%, the mining and metals producer ranks fourth among global names featuring Hapag-Lloyd AG, and A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S.
Another Indian name featuring in this list is Vedanta's subsidiary Hindustan Zinc, which ranks eighth with a 12-month dividend yield of 16.7%, according to Bloomberg data. Vedanta Ltd. owns a 64.92% stake in Hindustan Zinc.
Interestingly, the top three names in this list are all occupied by container shipping companies like Hapag-Lloyd AG, A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S, and Cosco Shipping Holdings Co. Together, these three companies have distributed dividends worth $22 billion to investors over the last 12 months, despite falling profits.
| Company | 12-month Dividend Yield |
| Hapag-Lloyd AG | 48.4% |
| A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S | 36.7% |
| Cosco Shipping Holdings Co | 27.4% |
| Vedanta | 26.2% |
| Ecopetrol SA | 25.3% |
| Yankuang Energy Group Co | 21.4% |
| Swire Pacific | 17.8% |
| Hindustan Zinc | 16.7% |
Source: Bloomberg
You can read more about the why the shipping sector is in focus recently in this article.
Vedanta's dividend payout in financial year 2023 stood at ₹37,758 crore, 3.6 times higher than its full-year net profit. The company on Monday announced its second interim dividend for financial year 2024 worth ₹11 per share, resulting in a total payout of ₹4,089 crore.
With this announcement, the total dividend declared by Vedanta in the first half of the current financial year stood at ₹10,974 crore. In comparison, the company has reported a net profit of ₹857 crore for the same period. A net loss in the September quarter narrowed the bottomline for the Anil Agarwal-owned mining major.
Vedanta, in May, had announced its first interim dividend for the financial year worth ₹18.5 per share.
As of September 2023, Vedanta had cash and equivalents worth ₹15,702 crore.
The higher dividend payout for Vedanta comes at a time when its UK-based parent Vedanta Resources faces bond repayments worth about $3.2 billion over the next two years. The parent held 63.71% stake in Vedanta at the end of September 2023, with almost its entire holdings being pledged.
The increased dividend payout coupled with falling stock prices have pushed yields higher for all these companies. While shares of Vedanta have come off 15% so far in 2023, the stock of Hapag-Lloyd AG and A.P. Moller – Maersk have declined 26.5% and 8.8%, respectively during the same period.
| Company | Share Price Returns In 2023 |
| Hapag-Lloyd AG | -26.5% |
| A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S | -8.8% |
| Cosco Shipping Holdings Co | -4.1% |
| Vedanta | -15% |
| Ecopetrol SA | -3.3% |
| Yankuang Energy Group Co | -2% |
| Swire Pacific | 4.3% |
| Hindustan Zinc | -3% |
Source: Bloomberg
Dividend yield for companies is calculated by adding the total dividend per share distributed over the last 12 months and then dividing it by the current share price.
Companies with at least $10 billion in market capitalisation have been included in this analysis.
(Edited by : Hormaz Fatakia, Anand Singha)
First Published: Dec 20, 2023 6:57 AM IST
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