I am offering some Noble's blood to feed the hungry bears.
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SINGAPORE (May 6, 2010) – Hong Kong-based commodity giant Noble Group, which was recently embroiled in a bidding war before dropping its interest for a stake in Australian miner Macarthur, posted Q1 net profit of US$115 million, a 28 per cent increase from the same period last year.
The Singapore-listed firm reported record quarterly revenue of US$11.4 billion, almost doubling the US$6.1 bn it raked in last year. Noble said the higher group revenue was led by its energy segment, where revenue rose to US$7.4 bn.
Noble chairman Richard Elman said the firm was “beginning to see the positive impact from our investments”.
He noted that Noble’s investment in Noble Petro, its US-based oil storage and terminal business, “has performed well”. “In addition, our Timbues and Santos facilities came online in the quarter and will contribute to our business and financial performance over the year,” he added.
Mr Elman is known for his colourful public statements – with Noble’s eccentric press releases spicing up the yet-to-be-concluded bidding war which are now down to US-based Peabody and Australian miner New Hope.
And true to form, Mr Elman used the analogy of making a choice between going to the gym in the morning and eating scones to underline Noble’s strategy of investing in the long term, at the expense of short-term gain.
In a separate statement sent out to shareholders, Mr Elman described the Q1 results as “what I would call a ‘solid quarter’.”
Said Mr Elman: “We aren’t cheering in the halls, but neither are we are upset or disappointed... The company is as solid as a rock, the operations are running well and we feel good about the future. The salient question is why aren’t we cheering in the halls? The basic reason is that we aren’t head-over-heels pleased with a turnover of US$11.4 billion converting into net profits of US$115 million.”
“It is for good reasons, but it is a little like working out every morning at 06.00 - it is good for you, and you should do it, but it is a lot more pleasant to eat one of those great scones that you can buy at the
Mandarin Oriental bake shop and watch the “Today Show” instead of dragging your tail out of bed and hitting the gym. Short term, passing on the gym is great, long term it kills you.”
“Our corporate version of “the gym” is that we are making significant investments in operations that we know will yield good results but in the short term this also tends to dilute immediate growth... While this build up is undoubtedly the right thing to do, it would have been easier to bag the gym and instead ‘eat the scone piled high with clotted cream’.”
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