Noble

Noble: Bloomberg reported that 24 banks have signed up for a US$2.55b revolving credit facility for Noble Agri. Macquarie believes that this news is a key milestone in Noble’s transformation path, and thinks that the market is under-appreciating the value accretion from this transformation exercise. For instance, Macquarie calculates a proforma consolidated net gearing of 29.5% for Noble by year end, down significantly from 116% at 1H14. Meanwhile, Noble gets to deconsolidate its loss-making Agri division to focus on a profitable non-Agri busines (energy & metals) . Macquarie has an Outperform on Noble with TP $1.60. 3Q14 results due 7 Nov is a price catalyst.