August 5, 2022: -On Thursday, Miner and trader Glencore said it would return an additional $4.5 billion to investors, which contains a share buyback of $3 billion after it said a record half-yearly profit primarily due to high coal prices.

Unlike its mining rivals bowing to investor anxiety to leave fossil fuels, Glencore mines thermal coal, whose prices hit record highs, reflecting shortages in protracted COVID lockdowns and Ukraine’s war, and trades millions of barrels of crude oil each year.

Chief Executive Gary Nagle told reporters that firm coal prices had significantly increased Glencore’s profits from its industrial operations. Nevertheless, he also stated the group continued to see inflation forces across its business, which were a “consistent headwind.”

Shareholder returns of $4.5 billion included a $1.45 billion special dividend, which takes 2022 payouts to $8.5 billion. The company had February announced a $4 billion payout, including a bonus and a $550 million share buyback.

The company’s adjusted core earnings or EBITDA over doubled to $18.92 billion in the six months through June, in comparison with $8.7 billion a year earlier and over analysts’ expectations of $18.4 billion.

Its trading division’s half-year adjusted which operates profit reached $3.7 billion, which exceeds the top end of its long-term annual outlook of roughly $3.2 billion.

“There is no quick fixing to the problems which plagues the energy markets, and this should keep the price for the likes of coal and LNG elevated in the second half,” says Joshua Warner, market analyst at City Index.

“Nevertheless, the outlook for metals looks complex given supply chain disruptions, rising costs, and weakening demand in China,” he added.