Commodities group Noble is facing 'another challenging year' after posting record revenue for last year despite a series of 'unique events' including the tsunami in Japan and the European debt crisis, says chairman Richard Elman.
Though there would be some good opportunities for the Hong Kong-based, Singapore-listed company, it would be 'another stressful year', Elman said yesterday. 'We are watching everything very carefully.'
Will Randall, Noble's executive director and head of hard commodities, said Gloucester Coal, which is 64.5 per cent owned by Noble, was expected to update the market next week on its merger with mainland-owned Yanzhou Coal Mining.
The update is likely to involve the release of an independent expert's report into the merger in which Gloucester Coal shareholders would own 23 per cent of an Australian listed merged company, Yanzhou Australia. Noble, which would have a 13.7 per cent stake in the new company, has backed the merger.
The executives' comments came as Noble posted a 42 per cent surge in revenue to US$80.7 billion last year, from US$56.7 billion a year earlier. But net profit fell 29 per cent to US$431.3 million, from US$606.6 million in 2010. Noble reported a US$17.5 million net loss in the third quarter of last year, compared with a US$157.2 million net profit in the previous corresponding quarter. The loss led to the departure of chief executive Richard Leiman.
Commodity volumes rose to a record 219.8 million tonnes last year, up 19 per cent year-on-year, with the biggest increase recorded at the firm's energy division, including coal and coke, where volumes climbed to 120.8 million tonnes last year, against 99.3 million tonnes a year earlier.
