(FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 9/8/15)
By Scott Patterson and Alex MacDonald
LONDON -- Collapsing commodity prices have forced one of the
mining world's most aggressive chief executives into retreat,
pushing Glencore PLC's Ivan Glasenberg on Monday to scrap the
company's dividend, issue more stock and sell assets.
The moves are the most dramatic yet among companies caught in
the deepening, fast-ricocheting effects of the world-wide slump in
prices for everything from copper to crude oil.
With a massive trading operation built years ago by founder and
controversial financier Marc Rich, Glencore was supposed to be less
vulnerable to swings in the energy market. Instead, the company has
been hit especially hard.
In an interview, Mr. Glasenberg said the moves announced Monday
weren't necessary from his point of view but were made to soothe
investor fears of a worst-case scenario in which commodity prices
keep falling as demand from China slows further.
Investors have fled Glencore this year, driving its share price
down nearly 60%. In comparison, rival Rio Tinto PLC has fallen 25%,
while BHP Billiton Ltd. is down 12%. After Monday's announcement,
Glencore shares closed up about 7% in London Stock Exchange
trading.
"If this doesn't do the trick," Mr. Glasenberg said about the
moves, "we'd have a very difficult environment in the world."
The slide by commodity prices to lows not seen since the depths
of the financial crisis has been a big setback for Mr. Glasenberg,
a star in the mining world who just a year ago made headlines by
proposing a blockbuster merger with Anglo Australian mining giant
Rio Tinto.
Rio rebuffed the deal, but industry watchers long held out
expectations that Mr. Glasenberg, a steely-eyed trader, would
eventually win the prize. The likelihood has dimmed because of the
damaged stock price and debt concerns.
The South Africa native built Glencore from a
commodities-trading house into a mining giant. Known as one of the
most secretive trading outfits in the world, Glencore went public
in 2011, valuing Mr. Glasenberg's stock at more than $9
billion.
In 2012, he launched the $29.5 billion megadeal for mining giant
Xstrata, a combination that ended in a power struggle with Xstrata
boss Mick Davis, who eventually left the company to launch a
private-equity firm.
Along the way, Mr. Glasenberg has landed some big names, such as
former BP PLC chief Tony Hayward, now Glencore's chairman, and
former Morgan Stanley CEO, John Mack, a Glencore director.
Glencore's rapid ascent dazzled investors, and Mr. Glasenberg
was seen by many analysts and rivals as one of the industry's
brightest leaders.
Competing chief executives at Anglo American PLC, Rio Tinto and
BHP Billiton stepped down after major investments launched by those
CEOs were struck with billions in write-downs. Mr. Glasenberg
rattled their successors with exhortations to cut back on
production of iron ore this year, but big producers largely
shrugged off Mr. Glasenberg.
Now, though, Mr. Glasenberg is facing the toughest test of his
career.
On Monday, he responded with a series of moves more drastic than
those taken by any other resources company, including large oil
companies and integrated mining giants, all hammered by the
commodity-price downturn.
Iron-ore prices have fallen 21% this year, while copper is down
18%. Brent oil, the international benchmark, is down 17% since the
start of 2015.
In response, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. have cut share
buybacks, while Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP and most of the world's
mining giants are slashing spending. U.K. mining company Anglo
American said earlier this year it would cut almost a third of its
workforce over the next several years to cope.
Glencore executives are scrambling to protect the company's
credit rating, a battle that comes down to reducing debt faster
than earnings erode.
Just last month, Glencore officials promised to trim debt amid
disappointing financial results for the first half of 2015. But
executives also forecast an upturn in commodities prices later this
year, and said they didn't expect to resort to dividend cuts or
issuing new shares, though Glencore said it couldn't rule out such
moves.
On Monday, Mr. Glasenberg said big shareholders he met with in
recent weeks told him they wanted more to protect Glencore from a
worsening slump. Lower commodities prices have battered earnings,
making it tougher to hit key targets tracked by analysts, such as
debt relative to earnings and cash flow. Credit agencies use those
measures to gauge creditworthiness.
The two big ratings firms, Standard & Poor's and Moody's
Investors Service, now rank Glencore two notches above
non-investment-grade debt. If Glencore falls into "junk" territory,
the company's costs of funding its massive trading operation could
spiral, exacerbating the earnings squeeze. Some trading
counterparties could also get spooked, pulling out of trades
altogether.
Last week, S&P cut its outlook on Glencore's debt rating to
negative, citing the company's hefty debt and the impact of the
commodity-price slump.
After Monday's announcement, Ben Davis, an analyst at Liberum
Capital, said Glencore is "going into full battle mode, which the
market certainly appreciates." Despite Monday's stock-price rise,
Glencore shares are down about 75% from the company's initial
public offering.
Glencore said it would issue new equity to raise $2.5 billion
and suspend future dividends to save an additional $2.4
billion.
The company promised asset sales of $2 billion and other cuts,
including working capital and capital spending, that will add up to
$2.5 billion to $3.3 billion.
Those moves are aimed at reducing Glencore's net debt to close
to $20 billion by the end of 2016, compared with its previous
target of $27 billion.
The debt-related worries are centered on Glencore's trading
operation, which had revenue of $35 billion in 2014. Glencore
executives have said their trading or "marketing" business, in
which traders buy and sell commodities, can rack up profits no
matter which direction the market goes.
Glencore's marketing unit has been profitable every year since
1994, when a group of managers, including Mr. Glasenberg, bought
the company from Mr. Rich, who later became famous for getting a
pardon for a tax-evasion conviction from outgoing President Bill
Clinton. Mr. Rich died in 2013.
Earlier this year, Mr. Glasenberg said trading would make
between $2.7 billion and $3.7 billion in annual profit "no matter
what commodities are doing." Last month, however, Glencore reduced
its full-year projection for trading profit to between $2.5 billion
and $2.6 billion.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 07, 2015 20:05 ET (00:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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