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Noble Group halts shares as restructuring hangs in balance

Bloomberg Published on Mon, Jun 18, 2018 / 1:01 PM GMT+8

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SINGAPORE (June 18): Noble Group suspended its shares in Singapore on Monday pending an announcement, as efforts to get shareholder agreement on its controversial US$3.5 billion ($4.7 billion) debt restructuring plan drag on longer than expected.

The stock fell to a record low of 5 cents last week before closing at 5.4 cents on Thursday prior to a public holiday. Once Asia's largest commodity trader, the company has seen its market value shrink to about US$50 million from more than US$10 billion in 2010.

After three years of decline featuring billions of dollars in losses, a debt default and, more recently, a spate of public sparring with shareholder Goldilocks Investment, the trader is struggling to pass a rescue deal that will swap half the debt for equity and hand control to creditors. The company's original plan was to complete the restructuring by July.