Glencore Slashes Debt as It Positions for M&A in Commodities
- CEO Glasenberg says company has ‘headroom’ for potential deals
- Earnings surge 68% in first half as metal prices rally
Bloomberg’s Enda Curran discusses Glencore’s performance and what it means to the commodities community. He speaks with Francine Lacqua and Tom Keene on 'Bloomberg Surveillance.' (Peter Grauer, the chairman of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, is a senior independent non-executive director at Glencore.) (Source: Bloomberg)
Glencore Plc built a war chest in the first half of the year, continuing to cut debt as the world’s largest commodities trading house prepares to ramp up acquisitions.
While profits improved during the first half, Glencore kept its dividend unchanged and used the extra cash to pay down borrowings. Net debt was $13.9 billion by June, down more than 60 percent from mid-2014 when the company was digesting its merger with Xstrata Ltd.