Glencore tops up investor payouts even as coal weighs on profits

Glencore Plc made an additional distribution to shareholders, even as declining earnings from the commodity trader-cum-miner’s sprawling coal operations weighed on full-year profit.

The company reported core earnings of $13.5 billion, 6% lower than the previous year. Still, Glencore is returning $2 billion to shareholders, including a top up distribution of $800 million that’s supported by plans to eventually monetize its stake in agriculture trader Bunge Global SA.

The distribution and a land deal that will bolster copper output in the Democratic Republic of Congo were highlighted as positives by analysts including Ben Davis at RBC Europe. “Glencore remains our top pick in our European mining coverage universe,” he said. The shares rose as much as 3.5% in London.

The results come less than two weeks after talks between Rio Tinto Group and Glencore failed, ending for now a deal that would have created the world’s biggest miner. The negotiations collapsed after the two sides could not find common ground on how big a premium Rio should pay.

Rio had wanted to buy Glencore to expand its exposure to copper, a metal that traded at record highs last month. Buying Glencore would have roughly doubled Rio’s output of the metal and added more future growth.

Read: South Africa is moving away from coal …

The attraction of copper has become obvious in the past year, with prices surging about 35%. Mining bosses have long warned that future supplies will be tight as demand is forecast to grow amid a dearth of new mines.

Still, Glencore’s copper business has faced sharp scrutiny from investors in recent years as production slumped and the company consistently missed or lowered production targets, especially as prices for key its moneymaker coal slid.

Gary Nagle

Glencore Chief Executive Officer Gary Nagle has sought to reset its copper business, where production has fallen about 40% since 2018. Late last year, the company unveiled plans to almost double output over the next decade and has said it’s confident that 2026 will be its production nadir, before a recovery from 2027 onward.

The company on Wednesday said it reached an agreement with Congo’s state mining company over a land package that will allow it to boost copper production in the country.

Read: Glencore’s years-long pursuit of Rio ended in just 24 hours

The divided fortunes between metals and coal was also reflected in Glencore’s trading profits, which dropped to $2.9 billion.

On the one hand, metals traders have been enjoying the best conditions in a generation, as they cashed in on President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs. That was reflected in trading profits that climbed by almost a fifth to $2.8 billion.

Read: Rio Tinto, Glencore in talks to form world’s biggest miner

Meanwhile, energy traders have struggled with markets that have been whipsawed by geopolitical events. Glencore’s energy and coal trading earnings fell 32% during the year, although they rebounded in the second half following the weakest six months in records going back to 2010.

The company’s net debt was little changed at $11.2 billion, which remained above a target that would normally prevent additional distributions.

© 2026 Bloomberg

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