Glencore Trims First Half Losses

ZURICH, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23th August, 2016) - Mining giant Glencore reported reduced first-half losses on Wednesday, as the company pushes forward with an aggressive cost-cutting plan to recover from a brutal 2015. The Switzerland-based company posted a loss of $369 million (327 million Euros) through the first half of the year, an improvement on the $676 million Glencore lost in the first six months of last year.

The company, led by chief executive Ivan Glasenberg, has responded to the collapse of the commodities market by reining in spending, scrapping dividends and closing operations across the world.

Glasenberg said Glencore was on track to continue reducing its daunting debt mountain -- which stood at $30 billion in 2015. "We remain confident and focused on achieving even lower than previously indicated net funding and net debt levels by the end of this year," he said in a statement.

Colin Hamilton, an analyst with Macquarie Group Ltd, told the Bloomberg news agency that the broader mining sector was "still indivestment mode", but that Glencore was a step ahead.