Why didn’t Noble issue a profit warning before unveiling its massive Q4 loss?

The $273m Yancoal impairment came after the first Iceberg report.

Noble Group yesterday released a statement to clarify on why it has not issued a profit warning prior to unveiling its $336.7m (US$246m) loss in the fourth quarter.

This was the beleaguered commodities giant’s first quarterly loss in three years. Noble’s loss occured on back of a $273m (US$200m) impairment for its subsidiary Yancoal.

Yancoal has been the first target of a hard-hitting report by Iceberg Research, which released a scathing criticism of Noble on February 16.

On the same day, Noble informed shareholders that there has been “no material adverse change since the Company last reported,” in response to a query from the SGX.

In yesterday’s statement, Noble clarified that the impairment for Yancoal only became apparent on February 24, over a week after Iceberg’s first report

“The Company therefore confirms that the 16 February, 2015 statement was correct, as no recommendation or decision had been made or considered by the Board on any impairment in respect of the Company and its subsidiaries at that date,” stated Noble.