Glencore sets aside $1.5bln for probes, reports record earnings

Glencore sets aside $1.5bln for probes, reports record earnings

LONDON- Glencore will set aside $1.5 billion for probes into bribery and market manipulation, which it expects to resolve in 2022, it said on Tuesday, as it announced record earnings from booming raw materials prices.

It also promised a $4 billion payout to its investors and said the trading division could benefit from further disruptions to commodity markets, including from tension between Russia and Ukraine.

The company, one of the world's biggest miners and commodity traders, faces investigations in Brazil, Britain and the United States following corruption allegations relating to some of its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Venezuela since 2018.

"We recognise there has been misconduct in this company historically. We've worked hard to correct that," CEO Gary Nagle told reporters.

Glencore also faces separate corruption and bribery investigations by Swiss and Dutch authorities.

"Although the Swiss and Dutch investigations are expected to remain outstanding, we believe that with the main investigations quantified, this will likely de-risk the company from this 'unknown known' which has been an overhang for the company since 2018," Tyler Broda at RBC Capital Markets said.

Shares in the company rose 1.9% by 1119 GMT.

In preliminary 2021 results, Glencore said it cut net debt to $6 billion