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NOBLE Group Ltd, a Hong Kong-based supplier of raw materials from soybeans to coal, said second-quarter profit more than doubled, helped by a one-time gain from the acquisition of Gloucester Coal Ltd.
Net income rose to US$248.8 million, or 7.45 US cents a share, in the three months to June 30, from US$122.5 million, or 3.64 US cents, a year earlier, the company said yesterday in a statement to the Singapore Exchange. Sales fell 31 per cent to US$7.17 billion.
Noble won control of Sydney-based Gloucester Coal in May after raising its cash bid to A$460 million (S$557 million) for shares it didn't already own in the coal miner.
First-half net profit margin rose to 1.4 per cent, after adjustments for one-time gains, compared with 1.2 per cent a year earlier.
'In what remained a difficult economic environment, Noble's first-half performance represents a very solid result,' chairman David Eldon said in a statement yesterday. 'We have been particularly encouraged by the fact that our net profit margins widened as our pipeline strategy gains traction.'
The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, which tracks 19 raw materials including soybeans, sugar, nickel and aluminium, gained 13 per cent in the second quarter, after falling 4 per cent in the previous three months. The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, more than doubled to 3,757 at the end of the second quarter from the previous three months, boosted by shipments to China.
Noble shares have gained 96 per cent this year, valuing the company at $6.7 billion. The stock rose four cents to close at $2 on the Singapore stock exchange yesterday. -- Bloomberg
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