Singapore 25/02/2016 - Noble Group said Thursday the sale of its 49 percent stable in Noble Agri will be completed on March 3 and it will receive the proceeds of $750 million then.
The share sale agreement for the disposal of Noble’s remaining interest in Noble Agri has become wholly unconditional, the company said in its filing to the Singapore Exchange.
The commodity trader had announced the sale of its agriculture arm to China’s Cofco Corp in December last year, the move aimed at paying down debt and improving its balance sheet.
Despite the sale, credit rating agencies had downgraded its bond ratings to junk on liquidity concerns.
Its rating was further downgraded by Moody’s Investor Service on Wednesday after the company announced that it expects to post a net loss in the October-December quarter and for the entire 2015 following a $1.2 billion in non-cash asset impairment charges.
The charges are in addition to expected write-down of more than $500 million related to the sale of the Noble Agri stake.
Moody’s said the huge impairment charge was unexpected and “heightens uncertainty regarding its ability to achieve adequate profitability and cash flow.”
Noble will publish its financial results later on Thursday.