LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Glencore is mulling ditching its primary listing in the UK in favour of New York or another location where it can "get the right valuation", chief executive Gary Nagle said on Wednesday after the miner and commodities trader reported a fall in annual core earnings due to weaker coal prices prices.


Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 16% to $14.36bn last year. Analysts had been expecting $14.55bn.

Adjusted operating profit fell 33% to $7bn, while revenue rose 6% to $231bn.

Nagle said the company was assessing whether other exchanges were "better suited to trade our securities", the Guardian reported.

"Ultimately, what we want to ensure is that our securities are traded on the right exchange where we can get the right and optimal valuation for our stock. There have been questions raised previously around whether London is the right exchange."

"If there's a better one, and those include the likes of the New York stock exchange, we have to consider that."

Glencore is also paying out $1.2bn in dividends together with a "top-up" buyback of $1bn to be concluded before the release of first-half results on August 6 at which the company plans to announce further shareholder returns "noting our regular updating and reporting of illustrative free cashflow generation at spot commodity prices, which is currently a healthy $4.8bn".

"The strength of our diversified business model across our industrial and marketing businesses, which focus on the commodities needed for today and tomorrow, has proved itself adept in a range of market conditions, giving us a solid foundation to navigate successfully the near-term macroeconomic environment and be well positioned for the future," Nagle said.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE