Glencore top brass win as record profits point to deals

Glencore chief Ivan Glasenberg had a swagger in his step on Wednesday as his mining and trading giant bounced back to post record profits and give a bumper payout to shareholders.

Swiss-based Glencore said 2017 was its best year as annual adjusted profits rose by 44% to $14.8 billion (£10.6 billion. Commodities including copper, coal, zinc and cobalt climbed in price following their 2015 rout.

Glencore will reward its shareholders for their patience with a $2.9 billion dividend payout.

Just two years ago Glencore was forced to raise $2.5 billion through an emergency share placing. Senior executives bought a large proportion of the shares and have seen their bet handsomely rewarded, with the shares reaching 393p today, compared with a rights issue price of 125p.

Glasenberg, chief executive and second-largest shareholder, spent $211 million on shares, now worth $453 million. Telis Mistakidis, head of copper has turned $80 million into $172 million and Daniel Mate, head of zinc, has turned $81 million into $174 million.

Glasenberg said that there was even firepower for deals. “There is room if and when we want to do any acquisitions,” he said. Glencore, which is expanding its agriculture arm, spent $4 billion on acquisitions in the past year. Net debt fell 31% to $10.7 billion, the bottom of the $10 billion to $16 billion target range. At one point Glencore’s net debt reached $37 billion, after it bought Xstrata in 2014, and threatened to bring down the company.

Higher commodity prices and a strong performance from the powerful “marketing”, or trading arm were the main driver of profits.