Sunday, September 20, 2015

Freeport-McMoRan plans more stock sales

Freeport-McMoRan Inc. said Friday that it has raised $1 billion through a sale of its shares and disclosed plans to sell another $1 billion, as the beleaguered miner looks to raise cash amid weak commodity prices.

Shares of Freeport fell 9.7% Friday to $10.88. The stock is down 68% over the past 12 months.

Freeport-McMoRan, which last month became the target of activist investor Carl Icahn, said it plans to use the proceeds from the offerings on things such as the repayment of borrowings and for capital spending.

Freeport added that it continues to have discussions with investors about potential investments in its oil-and-gas business.

Separately, after the close Friday, Mr. Icahn said he had boosted his stake in Freeport to 8.8%. In August, he had reported a stake of 8.5%.

Phoenix-based Freeport announced in August that it would slash 2016 capital spending by 29%, cut about 10% of its U.S. workforce--or more than 1,500 jobs--and reduce output. That came on top of plans to cut spending in its oil-and-gas operations.

Just hours after Freeport announced the cuts, Mr. Icahn revealed his stake in the company. A securities filing said he would potentially seek board representation and wants the company to cut spending levels and executive compensation.


Freeport has struggled recently as global commodity prices sink amid concerns about increasing global oil supplies and slowing demand from China, including for copper, a big source of revenue for Freeport.

source: marketwatch.com

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