noble
Reuters

Shares in Noble Group fell as much as 11 percent to S$0.24 on Friday after the embattled commodity trader reported a third-quarter loss of $1.17 billion and warned that the operating environment remains challenging.

At 0430 GMT, the stock was down 5.6 percent at S$0.25 on the Singapore Exchange. About 4.3 million shares traded on the trader so far compared to daily average of 3 million.

Noble Group's results highlighted the worsening liquidity conditions for the Singapore-listed trader. Liquidity headroom gives an indication of how much spare capital it has available to fund its business. The figure slumped to $800 million at the end of September from $1.4 billion three months earlier.

The company's survival plan hinges on selling a further $1 billion worth of assets and finding a strategic backer for the group's remaining coal, liquefied natural gas and freight operations.

The Hong Kong-based group has been battered by a savage downturn in commodity markets and concerns about its accounting.

The company, which commenced its strategic review earlier this year, has been forced to shrink its business, exiting loss-making and non-core operations in order to survive.

Last month, Noble Group agreed to sell its U.S. oil-liquids business to Vitol Group for about $580 million.