(Bloomberg) — Glencore Plc posted a slide in full-year profit as the commodity giant battles slumping prices for key materials and suggested that it’s prepared to cut output to support prices in some markets.
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The company reported core earnings of $14.4 billion, 16% lower than the previous year. Still, Glencore said it was returning $2.2 billion to shareholders, including a top up buyback of $1 billion. Glencore also revealed on Wednesday that it is considering whether to move its primary listing from London, where the company has traded since 2011.
The firm also took impairments, said that copper production would fall this year and reported higher debt than some analysts expected. Its shares fell as much as 7.2% in London, the steepest intraday drop in almost two years.
Glencore, which posted record profits just two years ago as it cashed in on the global energy crisis, has since seen its earnings decline. Prices for coal, one of its biggest earners, have slumped amid soaring stockpiles in Asia. Cobalt, where Glencore was once the top producer, has tumbled in value as new supplies flood the market.
While those two commodities have been hit hard, the wider mining world remains under pressure as China’s brittle economy undercuts demand for some of the most important metals. BHP Group, the biggest miner, reported a sharp drop in profits and cut its dividend earlier this week.
Glencore, which has held it primary listing in London since first selling shares in 2011, said the optimal location for that remained under study. In 2023, when the company had planned to spin off its coal business, it had said the standalone unit would trade in New York, a market more favorable to fossil fuels.
Glencore Is Studying Whether to Move Primary Listing From London
Coal prices have slumped to the lowest levels since mid-2021 in the past few weeks, driven by record production in India and China. That’s seen stockpiles swell in these countries.
The slump in coal prices has been dramatic. Australia’s Newcastle coal futures have fallen to about $100 a ton, down 20% since the start of the year. They hit a record $463.75 a ton in September 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Mining has boomed since then on the back of spiking prices and energy security fears.
