Glencore Swings to 2nd Half Profit, Confirms Dividend Resumption -- Update
February 16 2021 - 3:19AM
Dow Jones News
--Glencore softened its full-year loss by achieving profit for
the second half of 2020
--Adjusted Ebitda was almost in line with 2019, helped by a
price recovery in the second half and the performance of the
marketing business
--The company is resuming the dividend this year after meeting
its debt reduction target
By Jaime Llinares Taboada
Glencore PLC on Tuesday reported a widened loss for 2020, but
the group swung to a profit for the second half and confirmed the
resumption of the dividend in 2021.
The FTSE 100 Anglo-Swiss mining-and-oil company booked a net
loss of $1.90 billion for the whole year, widening from a $404
million loss in 2019. It was worse than a consensus forecast of a
$1.73 billion net loss taken from FactSet and based on 13 analysts'
estimates.
However, Glencore delivered a net profit of $697 million for the
second half of the year, bouncing back from a $2.60 billion loss
for the first half, as commodity prices improved. Glencore had
booked impairment charges of $3.2 billion in the first half as a
result of lower prices.
Adjusted Ebitda came in at $11.56 billion, slightly below the
$11.60 billion in 2019, but well above the $10.69 billion market
consensus, taken from Vuma and based on 12 analysts.
"A notable improvement was seen at our Katanga operation in the
DRC, where its successful ramp-up lifted Africa copper Ebitda to
$712 million," Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said.
The marketing division helped maintain underlying performance
broadly in line with 2019 levels despite the effects of the
pandemic on operations and prices. Adjusted EBIT from the marketing
business was $3.3 billion, 41% higher than a year earlier.
Mr. Glasenberg added that strong second half cash flows helped
reduce net debt to $15.84 billion as at Dec. 31, meeting the
company's deleveraging target.
Glencore is therefore resuming the dividend by recommending a
distribution of $0.12 a share in 2021.
Glencore said in the summer that it wouldn't make any
distribution to shareholders in 2020 in order to prioritize
reducing net debt to below $16 billion.
Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com;
@JaimeLlinaresT
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 16, 2021 03:04 ET (08:04 GMT)
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