Noble Group Forms Noble Trade Finance and Appoints David Sullivan as Managing Director HONG KONG, March 8 /PRNewswire Asia-AsiaNet/ -- Noble Group Limited (NOBL) has formed Noble Trade Finance Corporation and named David Sullivan, formerly General Manager and Director of trade and commodity finance at Fortis Bank, as Managing Director of the new subsidiary. Noble Group Chairman Richard S. Elman said, "We are delighted to have David on board. This is an important development for the Noble Group due to his immense trade finance experience." David Sullivan said, "We are planning to set up a forfaiting operation and move it online. From this we hope to expand into other areas of credit portfolio management. At the center of our activity will be structured commodity trade deals as an arranger and underwriter. We will raise capital and offer corporate advisory services not only utilizing knowledge of commodities but also country expertise as well." "I also have plans for countertrade, offset and clearing arrangements, and asset trading/swaps, but this will come step by step," he noted. David Sullivan, who has 12 years of experience in the commodity and ordered finance field, was formerly with Fortis Bank Asia in Hong Kong and prior to that with Mees Pierson. Noble Group reported a record net profit of US$21.1 million for the year ended 2000, a 234% increase over FY1999. Turnover rose 51% to US$1.2 billion for FY2000. Noble Group Limited is a Hong Kong-based worldwide supplier of industrial raw materials and transport resources. The group links producers and consumers, uniquely integrating sourcing, marketing, processing, transportation and e-commerce through http://www.rawmart.com(R). Outside of Asia, Noble Americas trades in coal and coke, fertilisers, cocoa, sugar, oxygenates and refined oil products. Noble Europe's activities include product and service marketing, the supervision of shipping, and the cost-effective delivery of product lines. Noble operates a global network of offices. They are located in Beijing, Bombay, Cochin (India), Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Karachi, London, Manila, Moscow, Newcastle (Australia), New Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Stamford (USA), Taipei and Tokyo. Noble is listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited, (NOBL). For more information about Noble, please visit: http://www.thisisnoble.com. SOURCE: Noble Group Limited CONTACT: Louisa Tam of the Noble Group, +852-2861-4601, or fax, +852-2527-0282, or [email protected]/ Web Site: http://www.rawmart.com http://www.thisisnoble.com