Glencore PLC said Aug. 8 that it booked a 13% increase in attributable net income to US$2.78 billion, or 19 cents per share, in the first half due to strong performances from its metals and minerals and energy segments, which were offset by a weaker performance from its agricultural products segment.

Revenue for the period increased to US$108.55 billion, from US$100.29 billion a year earlier.

Adjusted EBITDA for the half increased 23% to US$8.27 billion, while adjusted EBIT rose 35% to US$5.12 billion, the Swiss trader said.

Adjusted EBITDA for the metals and minerals segment grew 28% to US$6.01 billion; for the energy products segment, it grew 19% to US$2.59 billion.

The trader's marketing adjusted EBIT grew 12% to US$1.53 billion.

Reiterating comments from its production report in July, Glencore said that during the period, own-sourced copper production increased 8% yearly to 696,200 tonnes and cobalt output surged 31% to 16,700 tonnes on the back of the Katanga Mining Ltd. operations ramping up.

It expects to produce 1.47 million tonnes of copper, 39,000 tonnes of cobalt and just under 1.1 million tonnes of zinc in 2018. For the full year, Glencore lowered its guidance for lead by 15,000 tonnes, or 5%, to 285,000 tonnes with a 10,000-tonne variance and lowered guidance for coal by 2 million tonnes, or 1%, to 132 million tonnes with a 3 million-tonne variance.

Glencore recognized a US$1.14 billion income tax expense in the first half, from US$633 million in the comparable year-ago period.

CapEx stood at US$2.16 billion, a 29% increase on a yearly basis.