Noble's chairman increases his stake as shares sink

Singapore

NOBLE Group Ltd chairman Richard Elman stepped up his defence of the commodity trader that he founded by boosting his stake after the stock sank to the lowest since 2008, the company's credit rating was cut to junk and analysts scaled back price targets.

Mr Elman bought 10 million shares on Friday for S$3.19 million, raising his holding to 22.13 per cent, according to a statement to the Singapore Exchange on Monday. After news of the purchase, made at an average price of 31.85 Singapore cents, the stock fell as much as 8.8 per cent to 31 cents amid a region-wide drop in raw material shares. It ended Monday trading 1.5 per cent lower at 33.5 cents.