Glencore posts record H1; to return US$2.8b to shareholders

London

GLENCORE will return US$2.8 billion to shareholders in 2021 after soaring commodity prices helped the mining and trading company to a record performance for the first six months of the year, it said on Thursday.

The London-listed company's first-half adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 79 per cent to a record US$8.7 billion, compared with US$4.8 billion a year earlier, beating the US$8.4 billion expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Glencore joins rivals Rio Tinto and Anglo American in declaring bonanza payouts after record half-year profits powered by higher commodity prices.

"Following Covid-19's severe global impacts in early 2020, the subsequent economic recovery has seen prices of most of our commodities surging to multi-year highs amid accelerating demand and lingering supply constraints," said Glencore CEO Gary Nagle, who took the helm of the company in July.

Having reinstated its dividend in February after a pandemic-driven halt and a loss in the first half of 2020, Glencore announced an additional cash distribution of 4 US cents per share, or US$530 million to be paid in September, and a share buyback of US$650 million.

The company in February recommended a total payout of US$1.6 billion. REUTERS