Commodities firm Noble Group has posted its first quarterly loss in more than a decade, hurt by turbulence in commodity prices as the global economy weakened, reported Reuters.
Noble reported a net loss of US$17.5 million ($22.5 million) for the three months ended September, compared with a net profit of US$157 million a year earlier, hurt by unrealised mark-to-market losses.
But the company said it had made good progress in the planned listing of its agriculture business in Singapore and potential investors were reacting positively.
“For the first time since we started writing these statements well over a decade ago we are reporting a net loss for a quarter,” said Noble chairman Richard Elman in a statement.
“It goes without saying that we are very unhappy with this performance even if it does just cover a very short period.”
The volatility was not just restricted to Noble’s industry and markets, but was a result of the unstable macro environment which was “a continuation of the financial crisis that has been rumbling on since 2008,” Elman added.
The result came weeks after US agribusiness and trading firm Cargill Inc posted a 66% drop in quarterly profit.
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