Ivan the Sensible

6 August 2020 By Ed Cropley Follow @edwardcropley

The gunslinging boss of the big miner-trader is holstering this year’s $2.6 bln dividend. The company blames coronavirus uncertainty, but Glencore’s cash flow is holding up and metal prices are mostly recovering. The South African may be bracing for a hefty U.S. corruption fine.

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Glencore cancelled its 2020 dividend on Aug. 6, saying it wanted to focus on paying down debt. The Switzerland-based miner and commodities trader said that the economic outlook was too uncertain to make the expected $2.6 billion payout, which it had announced in February.

Glencore reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $4.8 billion for the first half of 2020, down 13% from the same period in 2019, but higher than the $4.3 billion forecast by analysts.

The company reported a net loss of $2.6 billion, including $3.2 billion of impairments to the book values of thermal coal, oil and zinc assets. The revaluations were caused by lower commodity prices.

Glencore shares fell 4.1% to 188 pence by 0720 GMT on Aug. 6.

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