Glencore reveals $5 billion loss after commodities rout bites

Grim annual figures from Ivan Glasenberg’s Glencore mining and trading empire were dripping with red ink as the worst commodities rout in decades sent it tumbling to a $5 billion (£3.6 billion) loss.

Glasenberg has borne the personal scars of the miner’s annus horribilis as his 8.4% stake in Glencore is worth less than half the £3.4 billion it was worth at the beginning of last year.

Concerns centred on the ability of embattled Glencore’s balance sheet to withstand falling prices, forcing the chief executive to axe the dividend, raise billions from shareholders and sell off chunks of the operation to cut debt to $15 billion by the end of next year.

Writedowns of $5.8 billion primarily related to Koniambo, the huge nickel project inherited from its merger with rival Xstrata.

Koniambo has been hit by cost overruns and falling nickel prices.

Glasenberg is aiming to complete the sale of a minority stake in its agricultural trading business and its Cobar and Lomas Bayas copper assets, raising up to $5 billion.

He said: “Our rigorous focus on debt reduction, supply discipline and cost efficiencies enabled Glencore to record a robust performance.”