Glencore valuation clouded by 'black box' trading unit

London

GLENCORE plc, the commodity trader that lost about a third of its value on Monday, is worth either US$98 billion or US$26 billion, depending on which analyst you ask.

At Sanford C Bernstein, price targets published by Paul Gait suggest that the Baar, Switzerland-based resource company can rally sevenfold to 450 pence, the top end of predictions tracked by Bloomberg. At the bottom, Nomura Holdings Inc's 120-pence forecast implies a market value that is US$72 billion lower.