New | Hong Kong’s Noble Group slams Muddy Waters report as inaccurate
Commodity trading giant Noble Group rejected a report by US short seller Muddy Waters questioning its finances and accused it of issuing an unreliable and misleading report without saying whether they will take legal action against the US company.
“We categorically reject their allegations as inaccurate, unreliable and misleading,” Noble, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, said in a rebuttal filed with the Singapore exchange.
Nonetheless, as of 9.30 AM, Noble was one of the top five losers on the Singapore Exchange, with its share price dropping by 2.91 per cent to 83.5 Singapore cents. On Thursday, Noble’s share price fell 5.5 per cent to 86 Singapore cents.
Muddy Waters published on Wednesday a report on Noble Group, saying it has taken a short position on the Singapore-listed company.
“Noble seems to exist solely to borrow and burn cash,” alleged Muddy Waters.
“We categorically reject the assertion that Noble exists to borrow and burn cash,” Noble replied.
“In fact, our balance sheet has never been stronger. Furthermore, the time period of 20 years referenced by Muddy Waters has seen Noble grow from a company with US$377 million of revenue to revenues of more than US$85 billion,” Noble added.
Muddy Waters did not mention the US$3.4 billion of cash proceeds received from Noble’s sale of its 51 per cent interest in Noble Agri, Noble argued.
Noble rejected Muddy Waters’ claims that Noble’s debt levels are unsustainable, saying its balance sheet is liquid. Nobel said its intra-quarter debt increases were nowhere near the US$3 billion claimed by Muddy Waters.
Nobel rejected Muddy Waters’ allegations that Noble misled investors or manipulated the accounts in relation to its acquisition and sale of an Indonesian coal mining company, PT Alhasanie. Nobel said the deals were conducted through arms length commercial arrangements and third party independent valuations.
