LONDON – Anil Agarwal, Group Chairman, Vedanta Resources Plc and Tom Albanese, Group CEO, Vedanta Resources Plc opened the market at the London Stock Exchange yesterday to celebrate ten years of Vedanta’s main market listing, confirming the Group’s long-term commitment to its listing on the London Stock Exchange. Ranjan Mathai, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, will also in attendance to mark this milestone.
At the time of flotation in 2003, Vedanta was the first Indian company to gain a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange, and it immediately qualified to enter the FTSE 250. The IPO was the second-largest of the year in London.
Vedanta’s listing has provided an excellent platform for growth over the last ten years. In this decade, Vedanta has offered global investors exposure to the fast-growing Indian market. Vedanta’s share price has increased by 175% since its listing, outperforming the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 Mining indices by a significant margin. The Group has delivered a total shareholder return of 12% per annum since flotation, returning $1.4 billion of capital to shareholders.
Today, Vedanta is amongst the largest globally diversified natural resources company. It has increased production ten-fold since 2003, with strong organic growth supported by select acquisitions including Cairn India, KCM, Anglo American Zinc and Sesa Goa.
With an EBITDA of approximately $4.5 billion for the financial year 2014, the combined market capitalization of all of the Group’s listed companies currently stands at approximately $40 billion. The Group now employs 88,000 people directly and indirectly across four continents, with a particular focus on India and Africa, where it holds the majority of its assets. Its community development programme has benefited over 4 million people in local communities where the Group operates.
“Our London listing has played a very important role in building Vedanta into the company it is today and we believe that it will be a significant part of the Group’s future. We are proud of what we have achieved and would like to thank all those who have contributed to Vedanta’s success. I look forward to building on this success with many more decades of partnership here in London,” commented Anil Agarwal.
Xavier Rolet, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Vedanta, a truly inspiring Indian success story to open the market this morning, 10 years since joining LSE. In that time, the company has gone from strength to strength, demonstrating London’s ability to provide ambitious international companies with the ongoing financing and profile that have helped Vedanta grow into the global business it is today.”