Mining giant Glencore sets aside $1.5 bn for graft probes

Mining and commodities trading giant Glencore said Tuesday it had set aside $1.5 billion to resolve corruption investigations in the United States, Britain and Brazil this year.

The Switzerland-based company made the announcement in its annual results which showed that it returned to profit last year, pulled up by higher commodity prices, following two years of deep losses.

Glencore said it had set aside the $1.5-billion (1.3-billion-euro) reserve to cover the costs of resolving several large and drawn-out corruption investigations that have been dogging the company for years.

“There were pockets of misconduct that happened in this business historically,” Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle acknowledged to reporters.

“We won’t see that ever again in this business,” he vowed, expressing his eagerness to conclude the probes and “move forward”.

Glencore disclosed in 2018 that the US Justice Department had launched a corruption investigation linked to the group’s business in Nigeria, Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A year later, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said it was investigating suspicions of bribery by the Glencore group of companies and staff in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Brazil also opened a probe in 2018 into Glencore and trading groups Vitol and Trafigura over alleged bribery of employees at state-run oil company Petrobras.

– ‘Extraordinary year’ –

“Glencore has been cooperating extensively with the various authorities in order to resolve these investigations as expeditiously as possible,” the company said.

“While Glencore cannot forecast with certainty the cost, extent, timing or terms of the outcomes of the investigations, the company presently expects to resolve the US, UK and Brazilian investigations in 2022,” it added.

As Glencore eyes an end to its legal troubles, the company posted a net profit of nearly $5 billion (4.4 billion euros) for 2021 after a loss of $1.9 billion the previous year.

Glencore said its strong result especially reflected surging demand and prices for its metals and energy products, which had seen its earnings before taxes and other costs jump 118 percent to $17.1 billion.

“In spite of the ongoing challenges of Covid-19, 2021 was an extraordinary year for Glencore,” Nagle said in the earnings statement.

The company’s earnings on metals alone ticked in at $12 billion — soaring 65 percent from a year earlier — while earnings in its energy unit rose fivefold to $5.6 billion.

– Russneft stake sold –

Analysts were largely positive about the results.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, described Glencore’s performance as “extremely strong” despite the litigation hanging over it.

Glencore also revealed in Tuesday’s results that it had sold its stake in Russian oil company Russneft.

The sale, revealed amid sky-high tensions between the Russia and the West over Ukraine, took place in December 2021 and will close during the first half of this year pending regulatory approval, Glencore said.

Scholar suggested that Glencore had sold the Russneft stake it had held for two decades “following difficulties exporting oil” after the Russian oil company’s former chairman was slapped with EU sanctions last year over his ties with Belarus.

Western powers have warned that Russia will face severe sanctions if it does invade neighbouring Ukraine.

Asked about the impact of possible war and future sanctions on Glencore’s business, Nagle insisted “it does not have a material impact on us.”

“We are a trader of Russian oil, but we are also a trader of oil out of multiple geographies,” he told reporters.