Noble Group in talks with "various stakeholders" to address financial woes

Noble Group on Wednesday said it was in preliminary talks with "various stakeholders" to address the company's deteriorating financial position.

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An employee is reflected on the wall as she walks past a signage of Noble Resources, a Noble Group subsidiary, at their premises in Singapore. REUTERS

Noble Group on Wednesday said it was in preliminary talks with "various stakeholders" to address the company's deteriorating financial position.

The embattled commodity trader said the principles being discussed are in line with the company's ongoing objectives of managing the maturity of its borrowings to optimise the use of available cash for the foreseeable future.

The principles also include company's objective of treating all stakeholders fairly, it said in a regulatory filing.

The Hong Kong-based group, which commenced its strategic review earlier this year, has been battered by a savage downturn in commodity markets and concerns about its accounting.

The trader on Monday announced the surprise departure of its co-Chief Executive Jeff Frase, just days after it reported a third-quarter loss of $1.17 billion and warned that the operating environment remains challenging.

Noble Group's results highlighted the worsening liquidity conditions for the Singapore-listed trader. Liquidity headroom gives an indication of how much spare capital it has available to fund its business. The figure slumped to $800 million at the end of September from $1.4 billion three months earlier.

"During this process, the company will continue to prioritise near term liquidity, and will aim to continue to operate on a normal basis," Noble said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company has been forced to shrink its business, exiting loss-making and non-core operations in order to survive.

Last month, Noble Group agreed to sell its U.S. oil-liquids business to Vitol Group to reduce debt.

Shares in the company rose 6 percent to S$0.21 on the Singapore Exchange.

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