Glencore is exploring a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange, with the London-listed mining and trading group targeting admission in October. The move comes as the company, among the largest constituents of the FTSE 100 with a market capitalisation of about $85bn, continues to weigh alternative listing venues after long-running complaints that its London shares trade below what it considers fair value.
Chief executive Gary Nagle said the Australian listing would help widen the group's shareholder base and improve the ease with which its shares can be traded. Glencore has been reviewing other potential listing locations, including New York and Sydney, alongside the ASX plan.
The prospective ASX admission follows a period of strong financial performance. Glencore's first-half earnings rose 86 per cent, with adjusted earnings climbing to $10.1bn — the second-highest level the company has recorded. The increase was driven in part by outsized trading profits linked to oil price swings tied to conflict in the Middle East, as well as elevated commodity prices and volatility across energy markets more broadly.
For a company of Glencore's scale, a secondary listing carries direct implications for how its equity is accessed across jurisdictions. Admission to the ASX would give Australian investors a domestic route into the stock, consistent with Nagle's stated aim of broadening the investor base and improving trading liquidity. That rationale sits alongside the company's long-standing view that its shares are undervalued in London — a valuation question the group has not resolved through its parallel review of New York and Sydney as alternative venues.
The listing plan is being pursued at a point when Glencore's earnings have been driven substantially by trading activity tied to oil price volatility arising from the war in the Middle East, alongside broader commodity price and volatility effects, rather than by production growth alone. Adjusted earnings of $10.1bn mark the second-highest level the group has reported.
The outcome of Glencore's review of New York and Sydney as alternative listing locations, together with the October timeline for ASX admission, will indicate whether the company's stated goal of broadening its investor base and improving trading liquidity is met through the Australian listing on its own, or whether further changes to its listing arrangements follow.
