Chairman and founder Richard Elman will be acting CEO until talks with Leiman’s unidentified replacement are completed, the Singapore-listed supplier of energy, food and mining commodities said in a statement after the market closed.
Noble reported a third-quarter net loss of $17.5 million, compared with a profit of $157.2 million a year earlier.
The company attributed the loss to volatility from the worldwide economic situation, exceptional market conditions particularly in the cotton sector, and adverse weather in Brazil that impacted the company’s key agriculture segment.
Third-quarter sales jumped 40% to $20.9 billion, with a 34% increase in the volume of traded goods.
Operating income from Noble’s supply chain almost halved to $242 million in the third quarter from a year earlier. Finance and administrative costs rose and the company posted a $207.7 million net loss on cash flow hedging and a $39.3 million mark- down on long-term investments.
