Hot stock: Noble Group shares slump on profit warning
SHARES of Noble Group tanked on Thursday following a profit warning by the beleaguered commodity trader, which re-ignited concerns over a longer-than-expected recovery process.
At 9.41am, the counter had lost 21.2 per cent to S$1.02, on hefty trading that saw 23.2 million shares changing hands. Noble had just undertaken a 10-to-one share consolidation.
Ahead of is first-quarter results due out on Thursday after the market closes, the Hong Kong-headquartered company warned on Tuesday night of a net loss of about US$130 million in the three months ended March 31.
It said that the operating environment remained challenging during the quarter, "made worse by dislocation in the coal markets during the quarter".
This would mark the weakest result in more than two years, excluding a writedown of over a billion dollars reported in October-December 2015, which led to big losses.
But Noble added that it did make significant progress in carrying out the cost reduction initiatives which were announced during the FY2016 results presentation in February, resulting in significant reduction of quarterly selling, administrative and operating expenses in the first quarter.
The company has been trying to restore investor confidence following attacks by little-known Iceberg Research on its allegedly aggressive accounting practices and after a commodities downturn triggered several downgrades by credit rating agencies, a share price collapse, and a series of writedowns and asset sales.
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Capital Markets & Currencies
Europe: Stoxx 600 logs best day in three months as banks shine
US: Stocks rally after strong tech results
Mixed trading in Asia as investors watch for further macro data; STI down 0.2%
Vietnam delays launch of new stock trading system
Hong Kong bourse regains favour on hopes of a market revival
Asia: Markets rise as strong US tech earnings offset poor data