Glencore chief scoops £69m dividend

Glencore's chief executive Ivan Glasenberg will receive a bumper dividend (Getty Images)

The boss of commodities giant Glencore became one of the biggest earners among London's top 100 companies today after he picked up a dividend worth £69 million.

Chief executive Ivan Glasenberg, who owns roughly 1.1 billion shares or a 15.5% stake, will receive the bumper award after the company unveiled its first full-year dividend of 10 US cents (6.9p) a share in its maiden set of annual results as a public company.

The Swiss-headquartered company, which floated on the London Stock Exchange last year, is one of the world's largest commodities traders with big operations in wheat, iron ore, copper, zinc and oil.

Mr Glasenberg, the group's largest investor, became a paper billionaire with a stake worth £6 billion when the firm listed on the FTSE 100 Index in London's largest stock flotation to date. The listing made Mr Glasenberg, who earns a £925,000 annual salary, one of the richest men in Europe.

Glencore, which recently announced plans to merge with mining giant Xstrata in a £55 billion deal, revealed net profits of $4.05 billion (£2.8 billion), compared with $1.29 billion (£815.2 million).

The proposed multibillion-pound tie-up between Glencore and Xstrata met instant criticism from leading shareholders when it was unveiled last month.

The mining heavyweights want to merge and form a company worth $90 billion (£57 billion) - but must secure the backing of 75% of Xstrata and Glencore shareholders in separate votes, as well as regulatory approval, to proceed.

Standard Life Investments, which has a 2.2% holding in Xstrata, came forward within hours of the announcement to express concerns over the level of Xstrata's proposed stake - 45% - and refused to back the deal.

But Mr Glasenberg stuck by the terms of its proposed merger today and said the "natural combination" will "realise immediate value" to shareholders.

Glencore said profits were hit by "unprecedented volatility and disruption" in the cotton market, losing it more than 330 million US dollars (£208 million).

Elsewhere, revenues rose to $186 billion (£117 billion), up 28% from $145 billion (£91 billion) the previous year.

PA