At its peak in 2010, Noble was Asia`s largest commodity trader with a market cap of more than $10 billion. Shares hit an all-time high of 17 Singapore dollars in 2011, but have since fallen as it struggles with the aggressive commodity price decline in recent years.
Noble has been forced to shuffle management, sell down assets and slash costs to boost liquidity. At the same time, its management has been navigating a series of credit downgrades, write-downs and accusations of improper accounting standards — all of which contributed to the dramatic collapse in its share price.
Thursday`s massive drop followed the company`s announcement on Wednesday that it expected to report a loss of as much as $1.8 billion for the second quarter, citing a continued challenging environment for both the company and the commodity sector.
It said its headcount would be cut to around 400 from around 900 currently.
Noble also posted a surprise loss of $129 million for the first quarter, which the company said caused "difficulties" in managing and supporting its supply chain and hedging activities as well as hurting the confidence of its lenders and other counter-parties.
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