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Glencore posts profits and dividend drop, shares topple

Glencore's shares toppled on Wednesday after it published a profits slump for in 2015 due to lower product prices and slashed its payment to investors to fund a 77% stake in Teck Resources' metallurgical coal organization.

After two consecutive record profits years, changed earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation ( EBITDA) to $17.1 billion from $34.1 billion a year earlier, in line with analysts' consensus quotes.

London-listed Glencore's shares were down 2.2% at 1234 GMT having earlier visited more than 6%.

The Swiss-based commodity giant's payment of $1.6 billion announced on Wednesday does not consist of a brand-new buyback plan, after the existing one ends this month, nor an unique dividend.

To pay for the $6.9 billion acquisition of Canadian miner Teck's unit, Glencore has actually cut the dividend it will pay to investors to 13 cents per share this year compared with 34 cents in 2015.

The deal will include 20 million lots of annual steelmaking coal capacity to Glencore's portfolio and it is anticipated to nearby the third quarter this year, ahead of a prepared spin-off of the commodity giant's thermal and metallurgical coal company.

Although there are no top-up returns at this point, business is anticipated to be extremely money generative ... which augers well for top-up go back to recommence in the future, Glencore Chief Executive Gary Nagle said.

Nagle stated that the business will continue to consult investors for their views on the spin-off once the acquisition is concluded.

We expect the business to be positioned for big capital returns after that offer closes, and we expect Glencore shares to begin to surpass once again as a result, Jefferies analysts stated.

Lower costs for battery products nickel and cobalt due to a slowdown in the electric lorry sector and for copper since of weak point in producing internationally, weighed on mining companies' revenues last year.

As part of its development plan, Glencore means to increase copper production, betting on its 2 brownfield tasks in Argentina.

2027-2028 we'll start deploying capital to those brownfield sites, CFO Steven Kalmin stated.

Copper is used in energy transition applications, including solar panels and electric lorries.

Glencore earlier this month stated it would offer its stake in loss-making Koniambo Nickel SAS (KNS) in New Caledonia, halting production at its processing plant for 6 months while a brand-new investor is sought.

Nickel prices fell more than 40% in the previous year after production rose in Indonesia, which last year accounted for majority of worldwide mined materials, requiring miners to consisting of BHP to mothball properties, delay jobs, minimize production.

We do not anticipate considerable (nickel) rate recoveries in the short to medium term ...( but) we've seen many of our clients interested in buying non-Chinese produced or non-Indonesian nickel, Nagle informed reporters.

(source: Reuters)