Noble falls into the red; expects margins to normalise next year

Singapore

NOBLE Group sank into the red in the second quarter as a lack of working capital constrained its businesses. And with raising liquidity now its overriding priority, the group said it is expecting profit margins to normalise only next year.

The commodity trading group recorded a net loss of US$54.9 million for the three months ended June 30, compared to a net profit of US$62.6 million in the previous year.

This comes on the back of a 32 per cent fall in revenue to US$12.45 billion, owing to liquidity constraints that led to businesses operating "well below" their optimal capacity, said the group.

In an unprecedented open letter that stretched into three pages, the group's chairman Richard Elman urged investors not to judge the group's value and progress by the three-month yardstick. "That this task will take longer than a few…