Noble posts US$1.75b loss, cites tough environment

SINGAPORE: Commodities trader Noble Group reported a secondquarter loss of US$1.75 billion (RM7.5 billion) yesterday, weeks after warning it faced its steepest quarterly loss in a year-and-a half and would slash jobs and sell assets to cut debt.

“Conservative liquidity management, scaling back of risk positions and constraints placed on the group’s access to trade finance lines led to disruption costs and prevented the group from taking advantage of profitable opportunities,” the Singapore-listed company said in a statement yesterday.

Noble’s market value has plunged by about 95 per cent to US$340 million from US$6 billion in February 2015, leading to rating agency downgrades, asset sales and fund raising to allay investor worries. Its stock is down 80 per cent in 2017.

Including its first-quarter loss of US$130 million, Noble’s net loss for the six months to the end of June came to US$1.9 billion which included US$1.3 billion of writedowns related to the revaluation of some of its long-term commodity contracts. Its firsthalf loss last year was US$14 million.

Noble also said its net debt rose by US$945 million in the first half to US$3.8 billion. Reuters