Trafigura publishes 2024 Annual Results

(Posted on 17/12/24)

Trafigura Group Pte Ltd, a market leader in the global commodities industry, has released results for its financial year ending 30 September 2024.

Net profit for the period of USD2,759 million reflected strong contributions from Trafigura’s core divisions - Metals, Minerals and Bulk Commodities; Oil and Petroleum Products; and Gas, Power and Renewables - as well as Shipping and Chartering.

Group equity stood at USD16.3 billion, providing a solid foundation for future growth and resilience against market fluctuations.

Revenue was flat versus a year earlier at USD243,202 million, as lower commodity prices were offset by higher trading volumes. The Group’s underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 36 percent to USD8,089 million from USD12,686 million in the prior year period, as we saw a return to more normalised market conditions.

In non-ferrous metals, volumes rose four percent year-on-year to 21.9 million tonnes, while bulk minerals volumes increased by 14 percent to 102.2 million tonnes. The growth in bulk commodity volumes was driven primarily by iron ore.

Shipping and Chartering had another high-performing year, supporting our commercial teams to deliver oil, gas and metals while also serving a growing portfolio of third-party customers. The Carbon Trading business continued to grow with the first credits produced from our investments in nature-based removal projects.

These achievements and the strong underlying performance of the business were, however, marred by the extremely disappointing discovery of serious misconduct by individuals in the Mongolian oil business, involving deliberate manipulation of data and documents and concealment of overdue receivables.

As disclosed in October 2024, the Group has recorded a total loss of USD1.1 billion, USD358 million of which is reflected in the FY2024 results, with the balance recorded as prior period adjustments. An external investigation remains ongoing. Other higher-risk offices and lines of business have been reviewed and the Group is confident that these issues are isolated to our Mongolian office.

The wrongdoing in Mongolia was uncovered as a result of increased scrutiny in recent years. This work is being significantly built on and extended as a matter of urgency, to review, test and improve end-to-end control framework, systems, risk and governance structures. Remedial actions will be subject to external assurance, reporting to the Audit Committee.

As part of the Trafigura Board’s focus on succession planning, FY2024 started with a new Executive Committee that included the appointment of Stephan Jansma as Chief Financial Officer, Emma Stroud as Chief Operating Officer and Ignacio Moyano as Chief Risk Officer. A new Operating Assets division was created, led by Jiri Zrust; Andrew Starkey was appointed Chief Financial Officer, Asia Pacific; and other external talent were brought in for a number of senior positions in Credit, Risk and Risk Technology.

Towards the end of FY2024, the Board announced the appointment of Richard Holtum as Chief Executive, effective 1 January 2025.