Glencore lifts asset sales target as 2015 profit falls 32 percent

By Eric Onstad

LONDON (Reuters) - Miner and commodity trader Glencore, seeking to reduce its debt, increased its target for asset sales on Tuesday after posting an expected slide in 2015 profit and $5.8 billion in charges after a rout on commodity markets.

Glencore said it was confident it could achieve $4-5 billion of asset disposals during the rest of 2016, on top of the $1.6 billion of deals already agreed.

The company had said it aimed to raise between $3 billion and $4 billion from asset sales, including selling a minority stake in its agriculture business, which it said on Tuesday was expected to be finalised in the second quarter.

Glencore's plan to sell mines is among a series of steps to bolster investor confidence after coming under pressure to slash net debt of about $30 billion -- one of the highest levels in the sector -- as prices for commodities such as copper and coal hit multi-year lows.

The Swiss-based group said group adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 32 percent to $8.7 billion, in line with analysts' expectations.

Core profit from marketing fell 11 percent to $2.7 billion, above the $2.5 billion the group had targeted, while profit from its mining and industrial business slid 38 percent to $6.0 billion.

The group's marketing division has assumed an increasingly important role as heavy losses on commodity markets has battered mining profits.

In 2015, the marketing unit accounted for 31 percent of total core profit, up from 20 percent in 2013.

(Reporting by Eric Onstad; Editing by Mark Potter and Louise Heavens)