Noble Group Reports Its First Annual Loss in Almost Two Decades
- CEO says aims to refinance credit facility `long before' May
- Company lowers net debt to $2.26 billion; reduces fair values
A coaling tower stands above a mound of coal at the Arch Coal Inc. Sentinel Prep Plant in Philippi, West Virginia, U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016. Arch, the St. Louis-based holder of the second-largest reserve of coal in the U.S., filed for creditor protection Monday, with an agreement to erase $4.5 billion in debt.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/BloombergNoble Group Ltd. posted the first annual loss in almost two decades after Asia’s largest commodity trader took a $1.9 billion writedown, and said it aims to re-finance debt before a May deadline.
The net loss was $1.7 billion last year compared with profit of $132 million in 2014, Hong Kong-based Noble Group said on Thursday, two days after it warned of impairments. The company, which needs to renew a $1.2 billion revolving credit facility that matures in May, has approved term sheets with a number banks on new arrangements, according to Chief Executive Officer Yusuf Alireza.