Noble shares recover even as rating agencies flag unsustainable debt

Singapore

AFTER a savage three-day sell-off, Noble Group Ltd shares climbed on Tuesday even as Moody's Investors Service joined S&P Global Ratings in highlighting the embattled commodity trader's finances, saying that estimated liquidity isn't sufficient to cover debt due by mid-2018.

Moody's said that while the liquidity headroom, including cash and unused committed facilities, was US$2.4 billion at end of the first quarter, it's since dropped.

"After paying down US$650 million in bank debt and the maturity of a revolving credit facility in early May 2017, the headroom would have narrowed to US$1.2 billion and become insufficient to cover the US$2.1 billion in debt due," it said in a statement as it …