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After US$5 bil loss, Noble Group sets earnings amid battle

Bloomberg Published on Tue, May 08, 2018 / 7:59 AM GMT+8

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SINGAPORE (May 8): Noble Group, the commodity trader battling to get a debt-for-equity restructuring agreed to secure its survival, will report first-quarter earnings next week, after signals from its chairman that the company faced tough conditions in the period after losing almost US$5 billion ($6.7 billion) in 2017.

The Singapore-listed company will report figures for the first three months on May 15, followed by a conference call the same day, the trader said in an exchange statement on Monday. Local listing rules typically allow a company 45 days to report first-quarter performance, unless granted a waiver.

After years of crisis marked by losses, asset sales and a default, Noble Group’s battle for survival has descended into legal fights and public sparring between the company, its creditors and major shareholder Goldilocks Investment Co. The Abu Dhabi-based fund, which recently won a bid in the Singapore courts to have Noble Group’s annual general meeting delayed amid a dispute over directors, has filed a lawsuit to challenge the debt-for-equity plan, saying it’s unfair. A pre-trial hearing in that case is scheduled for later this week.