GLENCORE on Wednesday reported a $1.63bn attributable loss for its 2024 financial year ended December 31 which it said was due to lower coal prices.The group’s numbers were also fairly noisy with a number of non-recurring items including $2.3bn of impairments. Of this, Glencore’s South African coal operations were written down for $611m due to lower prices and in-country logistic constraints.Commenting on the coal market, Glencore said 22% and 13% lower average prices for exports from Australia (Newcastle) and South Africa respectively represented a normalisation of the energy markets following disruptions between 2022 and 2023.The upshot for shareholder returns is that Glencore declared a $0.10 per share ($1.2bn) base distribution and a $1bn top-up payout, to be executed by way of a buy-back, to be completed by August.Analysts expected Glencore to resume its former policy of distributing excess cash provided net debt is below $10bn – considered a likelihood after the group abandoned its spin out of its coal assets last year.As of December 31, however, net debt was $11.2bn compared to $4.9bn at the corresponding time of the previous financial year.The share buy-back will be funded with $1bn Glencore expects to receive for the sale of its 50% stake in agribusiness Viterra to Bunge as per a 2023 announcement. The post Glencore opts for $1bn buy-back as coal prices hurt earnings appeared first on Miningmx.
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