HONG KONG (Indonesia Today) – Trading house giant Glencore International booked net profit of US$2.27 billion in the first half ended June 30, 2012, down 8% from the corresponding period of 2011.

Glencore actually posted 17% growth in sales revenue to US$107.96 billion. “The increase in revenue was primarily due to higher oil volumes handled and a slightly higher period-on-period average oil price (e.g. Brent up 3%), partially offset by lower period-on-period metals prices as noted above,” the company argued.

Cost of goods sold for the period ended 30 June 2012 was $105.82 billion, an 18% increase from $ 89.4 billion over the comparable 2011 period, primarily due to the higher oil prices and volumes and the resulting impact on the purchases of such commodities.

As a result, the adjusted EBIT dropped 24% to US$2.5 billion. Metals and minerals contributed 43% of the adjusted EBIT, followed by energy products (28%), agriculture (4%), and others (25%). EBIT of metals and minerals dropped substantially from US$1.58 billion to US$1.087 billion, while energy products down from US$763 million to US$695 million. (Indonesia Today)