Noble

Noble: Noble's 51% stake sale of its agriculture unit to COFCO appears to be underway after news sources reported that COFCO has approached banks to seek financing for the US$1.5b deal. Upon completion, Noble will also rake in an estimated US$64.8m gain from the divestment of the loss-making unit, which would be intended to pare down Noble's debt and expand its existing businesses, notably its more profitable Energy and MMO business segments. We note that in the recent 1Q14 results which beat street expectations, Noble's robust performance highlighted the group's successful shift in focus from volume growth to margins, with significant margin recovery across all its three business segments.