Noble Group swings into a net loss of $39.6m in Q3

Blame its conservative approach to liquidity management.

Noble group nosedived into the red at the end of the 3Q16, as it recorded a net loss of $39.6m (US$28.1m) from a profit of US$24.7m in the past year.

The group said it has particularly been impacted by its conservative approach to liquidity management.

"Businesses continued to be constrained in the latest quarter and are operating well below optimal earnings capacity. This has particularly impacted the Oil Liquids business where working capital constraints, combined with the lack of market volatility, contributed to a more than 50% year-on-year decline in our Energy Segment’s Operating Income from Supply Chains," the group said.

Its overall headline was down 38% to US$11.6b from US$18.7b last year.

The group said despite this loss, it is clearly making significant progress in its initiatives to raise capital and rationalise its business.

"We are well on our way to achieve the previously announced capital raising target of US$2 billion, with the completion of the rights issue in August 2016 and the announcement of the sale of Noble Americas Energy Solutions in October 2016," the group said.