Noble Group to book $1.2 billion impairment, Q4 loss on weak commodities

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore-listed Noble Group warned on Tuesday it would report a net loss for the fourth quarter, when it also expects to book $1.2 billion of non-cash impairments and one-off items due to the slump in coal and commodity prices.

Noble, one of the world's biggest traders of commodities from coal to iron ore, has been trying to boost investor confidence after a bruising accounting dispute.

It said it also expects to report a net loss for 2015. Noble is due to posts results on Thursday.

"Management has determined that it is appropriate to adopt a conservative price of $55 per tonne for thermal coal, to ensure that the coal portfolio will be covered against a possible scenario of 'lower prices for longer'," the company said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange.

 

"This pricing is $14 per tonne below the average market consensus price," it added.

Noble's shares have lost nearly 70 percent of their value over the past year after Iceberg Research alleged it was inflating its assets by billions of dollars. Noble rejected the claims and board-appointed consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers found it had complied with international accounting rules.

In a call with analysts on Tuesday, Chief Executive Yusuf Alireza said Noble remained focused on ensuring it had ample funds, adding that it expects to deliver $1 billion in further liquidity by March 2016.

In January, Standard & Poor's cut its credit rating on Hong Kong-headquartered Noble to junk, adding to concerns about financing costs for the company after a similar downgrade by Moody's Investors Service. [nL3N14R3WT]

(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Eric Meijer and Miral Fahmy)