Moody's upgrades Vedanta Resources corporate family rating

Moody's Ratings on Wednesday said it has upgraded the corporate family rating of Vedanta Resources Ltd (VRL) following its successful liability management exercises.

The rating agency has upgraded the corporate family rating of the company from B3 to B2. Moody's has also upgraded the rating on the senior unsecured bonds issued by Vedanta Resources to B3 from Caa1.

"The rating upgrade follows VRL's successful liabilities management exercises, with the company raising $800 million in its second bond issuance since September 2024," Nidhi Dhruv, Moody's Ratings Vice President and Senior Credit Officer said.

Moody's said that it has maintained the stable outlook on the entities.

"The bond issuances in quick succession solidify Vedanta's access to capital markets as well as growing investor confidence in the company," Dhruv said.

UK-based Vedanta Resources, the parent of mining major Vedanta, on Tuesday said it has raised $800 million from global investors through a new bond issue. The proceeds will be used to prepay the company's outstanding debt due in 2028.

This new issue comes as Vedanta has been gradually deleveraging its balance sheet, improving its capital structure, and lowering its financial costs by tapping bond markets as part of its liquidity management exercise.

Vedanta Resources has reduced its net debt by $1 billion in the first half and refinanced bonds of over $1.2 billion in the current fiscal year.

In September, Vedanta raised $900 million, the company's first dollar bond issue in more than two years, to prepay existing bonds.

The $900-million raise was at a coupon rate of 10.875 per cent in a five-year US dollar-denominated bond. Following this, VRF exercised a tap option on its September bond issuance, raising a further $300 million.