Glencore insists it is “operationally and financially robust” as share price continues to tumble

Glencore has issued a statement insisting it is "operationally and financially robust" as the mining giant struggles to overcome its recent woes. 

 

The Anglo-Swiss commodities trader – whose share price has fallen more than 73 per cent since the start of the year, making it by far the worst performer on the FTSE 100 – said it had taken "proactive steps to position our company to withstand current commodity market conditions".

 

"Our business remains operationally and financially robust – we have positive cash flow, good liquidity and absolutely no solvency issues," the statement said. "We are getting on and delivering a suite of measures to reduce our debt levels by up to US$10.2bn (£6.7bn)."  

 

The firm revealed its major debt reduction plan – which includes a $2.5bn rights issue – in early September. Although investors initially appeared to back the move, there have since been concerns that management is not doing enough to cut its debt against further pressure from falling metals prices. 

 

It has lost billions in the last few weeks, as the share price fall was exacerbated by a note from Investec, which raised doubts about Glencore's valuation if spot metal prices did not recover. The note said deeper restructuring was necessary against the high levels of debt.

 

But Glencore has today sought to win over sceptics, saying it had no debt convenants and had "strong lines of credit and secure access to funding  thanks to long term relationships we have with the banks".

 

"We remain focused on running efficient, low cost and safe operations and are confident the medium and long-term fundamentals of the commodities we produce and market remain strong into the future," the firm added. 

 

Glencore's share price closed down four per cent yesterday, despite having rebounded for much of the day. In Hong Kong, its share price was up 13 per cent at pixel time.