Commodities trader and miner Glencore said on Thursday it would pay $1 billion in dividends in 2017 and more the following year while keeping its investment grade credit rating, which remains its top priority.
Glencore a year ago was one of the miners hardest hit by a commodity price crash and has been one of the biggest gainers as the markets have recovered this year.
A year on, it has exceeded its disposal target with asset sales of $6.3 billion and is on track to cut debt to $16.5 billion to $17.5 billion, it said.
It also gave detail on earlier promises to reinstate a dividend in 2017, saying it would pay out $1 billion next year.
From 2018, it would introduce a new distribution policy, including a fixed dividend of $1 billion funded from marketing cash flow.
A variable distribution equal to at least 25 per cent of free cash flow from the mining, or industrial, sector could add roughly another $1 billion, depending on performance and commodity prices.
– Reuters
