Noble Group has secured a binding commitment for US$100 million (S$135.93 million) of trade finance facilities from a consortium of existing shareholders, the commodity trader announced yesterday before the stock market opened.

The consortium comprises Value Partners, Pinpoint Asset Management and other shareholders with a combined equity interest of 5 per cent who have irrevocably agreed to vote their interests in favour of Noble Group’s restructuring plan.

The extension of the additional US$100 million of three-year trade finance facilities to Noble remains subject to the execution of final detailed documentation.

Noble said that the finance facilities will provide for the expansion of its trading activities, particularly in high-growth opportunities identified in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.

In exchange for the facilities, the consortium will receive US$7.5 million of new asset company bonds, US$7.5 million of new trading company bonds, US$10 million of new trading holding company bonds and an arrangement fee of US$5 million as the company undergoes a restructuring exercise.

Noble said that some US$7.5 million of new asset company bonds that were to be issued to its existing senior creditors will be re-allocated to this consortium. Its existing senior creditors will be issued an additional US$7.5 million in new trading company bonds. That will raise the total amount of new trading company bonds to US$700 million and the total amount of new trading holding company bonds to US$270 million. – The Straits Times

Antitrust body sets sights on ‘anticompetitive’ sectors

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) is set to probe “anticompetitive” sectors in the manufacturing industry, specifically those that have a high impact on consumers.

On the sidelines of a public forum, PCC Chair Arsenio Balisacan told reporters that the antitrust body would look into a study that listed priority sectors most exposed to anticompetitive behavior. The study was led by Erlinda Medalla, a renowned research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

These sectors include those that produce: refined petroleum products, fertilizers and nitrogen compounds, milk-based infant and dietetic food, dairy products, agricultural and forestry machinery, pens and pencils, sports and energy drinks, refractory ceramic products, power-driven hand tools, cement and sugar.

The list also included the cement sector, which has been under PCC investigation since January last year.

In listing these high-risk manufacturing sectors, Medalla considered, among other factors, market concentration and high price cost margins.

Balisacan, however, said that the list still needed to be vetted using other considerations, particularly their impact on consumers and a probe’s “probability of success.”

He said the list would just help PCC in knowing which sectors to prioritize, since the commission has “very limited resources.”

“We’ll have to bring in other data to supplement data we’ve seen here,” he told reporters.

“If this sector has high probability [of] anticompetitive practices, the next question you ask is how important is that [sector] to consumers [and] to the overall economy,” he said. – Philippine Daily Inquirer

Record activity at Cambodia’s exchange

The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) experienced a whirlwind of activity early this week that saw almost 300,000 shares traded in five days, breaking the record for average daily volumes.

In a press release on Thursday, CSX said the uptick began on June 13 when 24,713 shares traded hands. On Tuesday that number jumped to 64,666 before skyrocketing to 131,279 on Wednesday.

Before this period of rapid trading, the average amount of shares traded daily this year was only 7,845.

Explaining the sudden spike in activity, Lamun Soleil, the director of marketing operations at CSX, said a new order-facilitation system called market order (MO) had been implemented which allowed for faster trades in higher amounts.

“If we want to buy or sell tens of thousands of shares, we use MO as it works faster. When using it, we do not focus much on the price but on sell-out and buy-in,” he said.

MO is an operational tool that allows investors to trade shares at the best market price. – Phnom Penh Post