FEW COMPANIES HAVEBEJVEFITOI) MORE FROMTHERISE of Asia, and China in particular, than Hong Kong-based Noble Group. Founded by British commodities trader Richard Elman in 1986, Noble has rapidly grown from a niche supplier of steel, chrome and manganese into a global commodities powerhouse running everything from coal and iron-ore mines in Australia to fuel distribution systems in the U. S. to palm oil plantations in Indonesia to soybean-processing plants in Brazil. Since listing on the Singapore Exchange in 1997,Noble has multiplied its sales 65-fold, from $866 million to more than $56.7 billion in 2010. Last year revenues were up 82 percent, operating income 42 percent and net income 9 percent. Over the past six years, Noble's stock price has risen more than 100 percent.
展开▼
