Hong Kong

Commodity trader Noble Group has reported another lossmaking quarter blaming interest and restructuring costs. Singapore-listed Noble, which is scrambling to complete a debt-for-equity swap, said it would report a loss of $115m to $140m for the three months to June after incurring $95m of restructuring expenses and $70m-$80m of finance and tax costs, the Financial Times reported. Noble has agreed to pay the legal costs and expenses of several lenders and shareholders, including Goldilocks Investment Co, which came in support of the debt restructuring last month.

Try as you might, it's difficult to find a more depressing stock market story than Noble Group, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Once Asia’s biggest commodity trader, the Singapore-listed company has left a trail of devastation for investors who bought into Richard Elman’s dream of building a Far East rival to Glencore. From Singapore’s mom and pop investors on the light-touch SGX, to institutional buyers that probably should have known better, all have suffered serious wealth destruction as critics have savaged Noble’s accounting practices.

Hsin Chong Group Holdings Ltd. is set to become the second Asian company to default on its U.S. dollar bonds this year, the latest sign of rising borrowing costs impacting weaker firms’ ability to repay debt, Bloomberg News reported. The Hong Kong-listed builder anticipates it won’t pay the $300 million 2018 securities due today and has engaged with noteholders and their advisers to find a consensual solution, according to an exchange filing late Thursday. It has also engaged holders its bonds due 2019 as the nonpayment on 2018 notes will constitute an event of default.

Just seven years ago, Noble Group was an $11 billion-plus Asian commodity powerhouse, trading everything from soybeans to oil. Now it's worth barely $80 million, rooted among Singapore's penny stocks, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Noble has posted huge losses provoked by a lack of trade financing and market calls that went sour, while also whittling down a mountain of debt. On Tuesday, it reported a narrower first-quarter loss than a year ago, although saying its performance was still beset by constraints on liquidity and trade finance.

One of Noble Group’s largest shareholders is suing the troubled commodity trader in a last-ditch bid to stop its chairman pushing through a controversial restructuring, the Financial Times reported. Abu Dhabi-based Goldilocks Investment, which took a 8.1 per cent stake in the company last year, said on Wednesday it had filed two lawsuits in Singapore to block Noble from progressing the restructuring — which would see existing shareholders retain just 15 per cent of the company — as well as seeking an injunction against its April 30 annual general meeting.

Richard Elman, the founder and largest shareholder of Noble Group Ltd., is pushing the embattled commodities trader’s creditors for a new restructuring deal, according to people familiar with the matter, casting fresh doubt on the survival of the company, Bloomberg News reported. Noble needs the support of at least half of the shareholders that vote in a special meeting for a $3.5 billion debt-for-equity restructuring plan that will all but wipe out existing equity investors. If shareholders reject the deal, the company plans to file for insolvency in London.

Noble Group Ltd said on Wednesday that creditors holding the majority of its senior debt now accept its $3.4 billion restructuring plan, Reuters reported. The beleaguered commodity trader said support for the deal, seen as critical for the firm’s survival, has risen to 55 percent from 46 percent on March 14. The proposed restructuring agreement requires approval by a majority of existing senior creditors representing 75 percent in value of its debt. The firm said in a statement it is making “solid progress” towards the deal and would extend the deadline for subscriptions to April 11.

Noble Group Ltd warned on Monday that it would begin insolvency proceedings if the beleaguered commodity trader’s $3.4 billion debt restructuring proposal was not approved by shareholders, Reuters reported. Noble’s debt restructuring process is seen as critical for the firm’s survival. But the deal has been opposed by some bondholders and shareholders, including Goldilocks Investment Co, which has an 8.1 percent stake in the firm.

Richard Elman, the 77-year-old founder and largest shareholder of Noble Group Ltd., quit due to "differences of opinion" with the firm’s board and creditors over its future, in a fresh blow to the trading house’s attempts to push through a massive debt restructuring, Bloomberg News reported. The statement Friday came less than two hours after a regulatory filing showed that Elman this week trimmed his stake in Noble from 18.07 percent to 17.94 percent.

Noble Group Ltd said more creditors backed its debt restructuring agreement, making it difficult for those who opposed the deal to try and wind up the company, after it defaulted on a $394 million bond that matured this week, Reuters reported. The Singapore-listed commodity trader is seeking a $3.4 billion debt restructuring seen as critical for the beleaguered firm’s survival. But the deal has been opposed by some bondholders and shareholders, including Goldilocks Investment Co, which has an 8.1 percent stake in the firm.