Noble makes 6th share buyback this month

SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed commodities giant Noble Group, which has come under attack by critics of its accounting practices, has made its sixth share buyback this month.

In a filing with the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday, Noble disclosed the purchase on Tuesday of 14 million of its own shares at 69.445 cents each for a total consideration of $9.75 million.

Noble now holds 119.71 million of its own shares, equivalent to 1.78 per cent of equity by way of market acquisition.

The firm on Monday bought back three million shares at 69.529 each.

Separately on Wednesday, Noble announced the appointment of Mr Yu Xubo, president of state-owned Chinese food processing giant Cofco Corporation, as a non-executive director with immediate effect.

Noble shares were trading up 2 cents, or 2.9 per cent, at 71.5 cents at around 10:15am on Wednesday.

It is down about 40 per cent since mid-February when Iceberg Research issued its first research report on the company, questioning its accounting practices.

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