Glencore Plc, which is in the middle of a fight to buy Canadian mining rival Teck Resources Ltd., said it’s on course for yet another bumper year of trading commodities.
(Bloomberg) — Glencore Plc, which is in the middle of a fight to buy Canadian mining rival Teck Resources Ltd., said it’s on course for yet another bumper year of trading commodities.
Glencore is one of the world’s biggest mining companies, but it also operates a sprawling trading business. The industry experienced a blowout year in 2022, as the disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent prices and volatility soaring. While some rivals have warned the extreme records of last year are unlikely to be repeated, Glencore’s guidance on Friday shows how conditions continue to favor the traders.
Based on the first-quarter performance, trading profits this year will again beat its guidance range of $2.2 billion to $3.2 billion, Glencore said Friday. The company has exceeded its range for the last three straight years.
Glencore’s trading and production update for the first quarter was originally scheduled to be released next week, but was brought forward as the miner races to win support for its proposal to buy Teck.
Glencore Dangles Prospect of Higher Teck Bid as Vote Looms
The companies have spent the past few weeks in a bruising fight to win over Teck investors, after its board and controlling shareholder publicly rejected Glencore’s two proposals.
The Swiss commodities giant offered to buy Teck for $23 billion and then create two new companies combining their respective metals and coal businesses. Teck is instead moving ahead with a plan to split its business, with a shareholder vote scheduled for April 26. If approved, it would likely end Glencore’s pursuit.
Glencore has faced repeated questions from investors and analysts about whether it should increase its commodity profit range, which it’s now on target to beat for the fourth straight year. However, Chief Financial Officer Steve Kalmin has said he needs to see normalized commodity markets before making a change.
Glencore maintained all its production targets for the year. In trading, the company highlighted energy products — which include oil and coal — as having performed particularly well.
(Updates with production targets in last paragraph.)
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