Noble records US$1.7b loss for 2015

NOBLE Group fell deeply into the red in the 2015 financial year, recording a loss of US$1.7 billion, as the weight of a US$1.9 billion impairment bore down on the firm.

This compares to a net profit of US$132 million in 2014.

Revenue dropped 22 per cent to US$66.7 billion, despite higher trading volumes of 271.3 million tonnes, up from 215 million tonnes.

The impairment figure comprised a US$1.06 billion reduction in the value of its long-term coal contracts; a US$178 million impairment on assets such as Cockatoo Coal, Yancoal Australia and others; a US$531 million impairment from the sale of its 49 per cent stake in Noble Agri and US$193 million from its share of Noble Agri's losses in 2015.