Trafigura Wrestles With Huge Share Buyback Bill as Boom Fades
- Trading house cuts interest rate on money owed to shareholders
- Wave of senior departures is also putting pressure on company
Trafigura faces years of buyback commitments based on profits it churned out in the period following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Trafigura Group is grappling with a hefty share buyback bill after several years of blockbuster profits, prompting the commodity trading giant to cut the interest it pays on money owed to its shareholders.
Trafigura, which is owned by about 1,400 employees, uses buybacks as the main way of rewarding its top traders. Each year, the company commits to repurchasing a significant chunk of shares — a figure generally determined by its most recent annual profit — with payments usually spread over the following four years. When employees leave, Trafigura buys them out, also in a series of installments.