NOBLE Group will not be paying the principal and interest on its US$379 million bonds due on March 20, nor the coupon due on its 2020 notes that it has already missed.
The commodity trading group announced this on Friday evening, saying that it has taken into consideration both the advice received from its legal and financial advisers, and its obligations under the restructuring support agreement (RSA).
It has also consulted extensively with the ad hoc group of creditors with whom it has been in negotiations, it added.
Noble has signed the RSA with creditors holding 46 per cent of its senior debt, but it is not clear how much of the 2018 bond this group holds.
The announcement caps a topsy-turvy week for Noble's shares, which spiked to as high as 17.4 Singapore cents on Monday before gradually falling to as low as 12.9 cents in intra-day trading on Friday.
The stock ended trading at 13.7 Singapore cents on Friday, 1.6 cents or 10.5 per cent lower than its previous close, before the announcement was made.
Noble said on March 12 that it was availing itself of a 30-day grace period to pay the coupon on its 2022 bonds due on March 9. There is no similar grace period on the 2018 bond maturity.
On March 14, it announced that it had signed the RSA with the ad hoc group, and that other creditors representing another 19 per cent of its claims had indicated their support for the restructuring, subject to completing internal approval processes.
Noble will need at least 75 per cent of its creditors by debt value and 50 per cent by number for its scheme of arrangement to be approved.