In its first full year as a commodities group, Glencore Xstrata posted forecast-beating core profit.

The group was helped by a strong performance from its trading arm offsetting a decline at its mining division, Reuters reported.

The diversified trader and miner said its annual adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totaled $13.1 billion, above a company-provided analyst consensus of $12.3 billion.

The company also said it is in talks with China's Minmetals for the sale of its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru, which sources have said could fetch about $5 billion.

Core profit from the trading arm of the company rose 17 percent, though the energy sector lagged while earnings from the mining division declined by 4 percent because of a fall in commodity prices.

"Our marketing division once again delivered a strong overall performance, while the modest year-on-year decline in our industrial asset performance inevitably reflected the weaker commodity price environment in 2013," Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg said.

Mimetals has been selected as the preferred bidder, beating competition from parties including a Western consortium that includes Teck Resources, Newmont Mining Corp and private equity firm Blackstone.