NMDC skips dividend payout; slumps 6 per cent

The Board of Directors of the state-run iron ore miner, NMDC at its meeting held on March 17, 2018 decided not to declare interim dividend for the financial year 2017-18. 

Following the news, the shares of the company fell over 6 per cent in morning trade on Monday as the company has reported record production this year and also increased ore prices. Also, the recent mining ban in Goa and Odisha also bodes well for the company.   

Last week, the company reported an increase of 3.3 per cent (yoy) in its iron ore production to 31.32 million tonnes for the 11 month period of FY18. In the last two months, the company has also increased ore prices by 25 per cent.  

​Investors were expecting that the company will pay out dividends since the company is debt-free and has been a regular dividend payer. But the decision of the board to skip dividend payment seems to have hurt investors' sentiments. 

At 11:10 hours, NMDC was trading at Rs. 118.45 per share, down Rs. 7.5 or 5.95 per cent on BSE. The stock has a 52-week high of Rs. 162.55 and 52-week low of Rs. 102.80 per share on BSE. The stock attracted a traded volume of 2,83,447 shares on BSE.