Income jumps at Glencore as revenue slides
GLENCORE’S 2014 revenue dipped despite huge net income gains, the company reported yesterday.
The natural resources company brought in $221bn (£151bn) this year, marking a nearly five per cent drop from 2013. However, net income in 2014 leapt to $4.25bn after 2013’s reported losses of more than $7bn.
A Glencore spokesman explained the losses to City A.M. as a write-down from the 2014 acquisition of mining company Xstrata. The 2014 figures still mark a major rise since 2012’s net income of $1.07bn.
Glencore also noted total salary and payroll costs of $6bn, up $1bn on 2013. However, the number of Glencore employees declined by over 10 per cent to 181,349.
Chief executive Ivan Glasenberg said 2014 was a year of “challenges and opportunities” for Glencore, citing lower commodity prices, geopolitical tensions, and slow economic recovery.
He added: “While there remains the potential for future economic setbacks and no shortage of bearishness towards commodities in financial markets, physical demand for our raw materials remains healthy.”