Glencore may raise up to £48bn from what would be London's largest ever float

By ROB DAVIES FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Updated:

Glencore could double its profits to £8bn within the space of two years, according to research that inflated the price tag on the commodities firm to as high as £48bn.

The fresh assessment of Glencore’s financial clout came from analysts at investment banks, who offered their take on what will be London’s largest ever float.

The listing of up to 20 per cent of the company had been widely predicted to value Glencore at some £45bn.

Billionaire's playground

Billionaire's playground

But bankers at Barclays Capital said its existing shares could be worth £42.6bn, with a further £5.4bn of equity due to hit the market when it floats.

The valuation would see its 65 top partners sitting on stakes worth an average of £165m, while chief executive Ivan Glasenberg’s reputed 15 per cent stake would be valued at around £6bn.

They also predicted Glencore’s annual profits before tax and other items would reach £8bn within the next two years, beating the record of £4.75bn achieved in 2007.

Analysts pointed to the Swissbased firm’s low tax bill and its ability to manage fluctuations in commodity prices via its vast network of traders.

The assessment of its value will hand Glencore a tool to soothe investors concerned by the firm’s corporate governance record.

Shareholders, including Standard Life, last week slammed the firm over its failure to manage the naming of its chairman properly.

Sources leaked that former BP boss Lord Browne – who left the oil firm in 2007 after lying under oath about his private life – had been named as chairman, forcing Glencore to rush out a statement saying adventurer Simon Murray had got the job.

Shareholder ire compounded governance concerns raised when the Mail revealed Glencore had been accused of widespread tax avoidance in Zambia.

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