Glencore H1 Earnings Call Highlights

Glencore LON: GLEN reported first-half 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $10.1 billion, supported by stronger commodity prices, increased copper volumes and a near-record performance from its marketing business amid disrupted energy and freight markets.

Industrial adjusted EBITDA rose 72% year over year to $6.5 billion, while adjusted marketing EBIT increased 142% to $3.3 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Gary Nagle said the company’s operations delivered production within market guidance for the first half and that Glencore maintained its full-year production guidance.

The company ended the period with net debt of $10.2 billion, down $1 billion, while funds from operations increased 158% to $8.1 billion.

Glencore declared an additional $1.5 billion shareholder return, comprising $1 billion in cash and a $500 million share buyback to be completed over the coming six months.

Chief Financial Officer Steven Kalmin said higher commodity prices were the largest contributor to the industrial earnings increase.

The company cited average period-over-period price increases of 39% for copper, 22% for zinc and 19% to 24% across its energy and steelmaking coal portfolios.

Glencore’s metals and minerals business generated $4.5 billion of industrial EBITDA, compared with $2.4 billion a year earlier.

Copper EBITDA exceeded $3 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the first half of 2025.

Kalmin said the African copper business contributed more than $1 billion in EBITDA, compared with about $100 million a year earlier, helped by a 66% increase in production to 138,000 tonnes.

Industrial oil EBITDA increased to $432 million from $164 million, aided by refining operations, including the company’s Cape Town refinery.

Coal earnings also benefited from higher energy and steelmaking coal prices.

The marketing division’s $3.3 billion adjusted EBIT reflected trading opportunities created by energy-market, freight and supply-chain disruptions.

Nagle said oil and gas made an “exceptionally strong” contribution, while coal also performed well.

Metals and minerals marketing delivered a strong result but was below the prior year’s record performance.

Kalmin said Glencore’s long-term marketing EBIT range remains $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion.

Using the first-half result and an assumption of second-half earnings between the midpoint and upper end of that range, the company illustrated full-year marketing EBIT of about $4.9 billion.

He said July had started “reasonably well,” while noting that results will depend on market conditions during the rest of the year.

Higher input costs offset part of the benefit from commodity prices.

Industrial costs increased by $1.1 billion, primarily due to diesel, sulfur and sulfuric-acid costs, as well as stronger Australian and South African currencies.

Kalmin said the company experienced direct and secondary effects from Middle East disruption.

Brent crude averaged $91.30 per barrel in the second quarter, compared with $61 at the beginning of the year, while Australian diesel premiums reached record levels.

At Glencore’s Democratic Republic of Congo operations, sulfuric-acid costs were 40% above budget, and sulfur costs at Murrin were 67% above budget.

The CFO characterized much of the higher cost base as transitory, contingent on calmer markets and normalized supply chains.

He said Glencore prioritized securing supplies needed to maintain production at its operations.

Glencore also said its cost-reduction initiative was largely complete.

Kalmin said the company had delivered roughly 80% to 90% of a previously announced $1 billion cost-out program, with the savings permanently embedded in the business despite being overshadow...