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Glencore's full-year results, released Tuesday, showed a net loss attributable to equity holders of US$404 million as $2.8 billion of writedowns for Africa copper, Colombia coal, and oil and gas came through.
"Our performance in 2019 reflected the prolonged and uncertain trade deal negotiations, generally weaker prices for our key commodities and some operational challenges experienced at our ramp-up/development assets," said Glencore CEO Ivan Glastenberg.
Glencore's marketing division finished the year on a strong note, with Glastenberg pointing towards "an excellent performance from oil and a stronger second half metals' contribution, helping to offset the cobalt headwinds experienced in the first half".
As for the topic du jour, Glastenberg said Glencore was "closely watching" coronavirus developments and its potential impact on global growth and markets.
Analysts at SP Angel noted Glencore's marketing division "will come into its own this year resolving supply chain issues for customers affected by the coronavirus".
"If the coronavirus is contained within China then Glencore looks well placed for recovery, if not then Glencore may still outperform other miners on the strength of its trading division," said SP Angel.
Glastenberg said Glencore had "various defensive cashflow characteristics, stemming primarily from marketing activities, but also material exposure to precious metals and infrastructure and expected countercyclical working capital inflows".
Glastenberg is set to retire soon, and Glencore has yet to specify who will replace him in the top job, other than to say a number of divisional heads are in the running.
Shares in the company closed at 226.1p on Tuesday, down 4.5%.
Analysts at Numis Securities said the results were a "mild negative" and that they expected shares to be "moderately off" given the EBITDA and earnings fall off.
Other sources were more positive. Tyler Broda, analyst at RBC, described the numbers as a "strong result … beating our EBITDA forecast by 1% and consensus by 4%".
Christopher LaFemina at Jefferies said he expected Glencore "to have strong growth in EBITDA and free cash flow as markets for its key commodities tighten and prices rise".
BMO's Edward Sterck pointed to Glencore's dividend of 20c/share, which it said reflected the company's "strong financial performance", coming in above BMO's forecast of 8c/share.
