2025-01-03 05:30:02 :
More recently, Lloyds has looked to share ownership of the company (the mine accounts for much of the company’s value) with blue-collar employees through stock options. Some of the workers are former Maoists who have laid down their arms and are looking for a steady income.
To be sure, the company has faced considerable headwinds since it began operating, including the kidnapping of executives and Maoist arson. However, it stayed the course, growing its revenue 24x between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2024 to $6,575 crore to start mining the region’s red dust, which will eventually be turned into steel.
Now, in a move unheard of in the metals and mining industry, Lloyds Metals and Energy on Thursday awarded stock options to its 6,000 employees, most of whom perform manual labor for meager wages in its mines or factories. its factory floor. This story was first reported in times of india.
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The company granted 42,800 stock options to its employees $4 each. Calculated according to market price $As of Thursday’s close, the shares were valued at $1,340.95 per share $5.8 Crores. Its sister company Lloyds Engineering Works was also awarded value $5.6 crore, so did unlisted group company Thriveni Earthmovers Pvt. Ltd.
“We truly believe in rewarding employees with ownership of the company,” said Rajesh Gupta, managing director of the company, adding that they have been granting stock options to employees for the past seven years.
“We started with a small team of 10-12 people and scaled it up to our entire white-collar workforce two years ago. This year, we are also providing stock options to all blue-collar employees,” Gupta added.
The company established an 11 million employee stock ownership plan (Esop) pool seven years ago, most of which have now vested. There are about 170,000 shares left in the pool, worth almost $230 million at current share price.
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Gupta admitted that the social fabric of the region was in turmoil and that there were currently about 47 employees on the company’s roster who had been armed with Maoist ideological weapons. “But since then they gave up their weapons and found jobs with us,” he said.
In the old metals and mining industries, granting stock options to employees is not as common as in sunrise industries like information technology or in new-age start-ups, company experts say.
“It is also not uncommon to give options to workers. This is a step in the right direction,” said Chandrasekhar Sripada, clinical professor of organizational behavior at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. , worthy of applause. An ESOP is an investment that builds a sense of ownership among employees and should be considered in the long run. “
Lloyds Metals and Energy shares rose more than 6% to close at $The BSE index gained 1,340.95 points on Thursday, while the Sensex gained 1.83%. The stock has more than doubled over the past year, giving the company a valuation of more than $700 billion rupees.
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The company plans to expand further into the region with plans to build a pellet plant with an annual capacity of 4 million tonnes and an 85-km-long slurry pipeline at Gadchiroli. It also plans to build a 360,000-ton-per-year direct reduced iron unit and a 100-megawatt power plant in nearby Chandrapur.
Further expansion plans include construction of another 4 million tonne pellet plant at Gadchiroli and a 1.2 million tonne wire rod plant at Chandrapur. The expansion plans will be funded by internal accruals to maintain the company’s net debt-free balance sheet.
Analysts at Anand Rathi said in a research note: “We expect strong momentum going forward given the company’s focus on integrating the steel value chain, ramping up production capacity, eliminating the need to pay additional premium, and proximity to strategic mine locations near steel manufacturing hubs in states .” November 28.
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The brokerage expects the company to grow faster than the steel and mining sectors, with an Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) CAGR of 65% from FY24 to FY27.
Analysts pointed to operational risks arising from the Maoist conflict, potential delays in environmental clearances and volatility in iron ore prices as key risks to the stock.
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