Noble

Noble: CLSA cutting to O/p from Buy with $1.48 TP, where the house notes that with the sale of Agri to COFCO on track, the significantly lighter B/S post the deal could give Noble a US$1-1.5b warchest to embark on its new (old) strategy of taking small stakes in developing mines in order to secure offtake. Also, with the X2 fund now closed at US$2.5b, estimate this could add 48-72mt to Noble’s volume, or improve its gross profit by 15-22%. However, given the recent 16% rally, we cut to O-PF, but would watch any X2 acquisition as positive signals for earnings upside.