The report issued by the previously unknown Iceberg Research alleged commodities and shipping group Noble exploited accounting loopholes in relation to associate companies.
“The company completely rejects the allegations,” said Noble in a statement to SGX. “All material information to which Iceberg Research refers is in the public domain. There has been no material adverse change since the company last reported.
“The company reserves its rights against Iceberg Research,” it added.
Noble’s shares were closed down 7.88% on Monday at SGD1.11 and was the second most traded share on SGX with a volume 63.56m.
It is believed the report maybe an attempt to short Noble’s stock in similar way that happened to another Singapore-listed commodities company Olam in 2012..
Iceberg Research’s website said it was: “Iceberg Research identifies substantial earnings misrepresentation and accounting irregularities in financial statements issued by public companies.” There is, however, only one single 17 page report on the website, the one published on 15 February on Noble. There are no analyst names or contacts on the report or the website.
On an apparently newly set-up Twitter account Iceberg Research denied shorting Noble’s stock. “We confirm that at this point we have no short interest in Noble Group (directly or indirectly),” it said.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
