Glencore, the once secretive commodity trader which moved into the public arena in May, has moved higher after its chief executive added to his stake in the business.
The company floated at 530p a share, and since then its shares have performed poorly on worries about the outlook for commodity prices in a global downturn, and suggestions it was priced too dearly. Chief executive Ivan Glasenberg has seen the value of his 16% stake fall by around £1bn since the flotation, although he was in line for a dividend of $54m following results announced in August.
Now he has backed the business further by spending £9.7m on Thursday to buy 2.25m shares at 435p each.
This follows a move earlier in September by investor First Reserve International selling convertible bonds and buying shares in Glencore at around 425p each.
Glencore continues to be acquisitive, and has recently doubled its stake in South African coal miner Optimum to 23.9% following an offer to buy the business in July.
In the market Glencore has risen 10.4p to 447.65p.
