SINGAPORE – Shares of Singapore-listed commodities firm Noble Group rose as much as 4.9 percent on Tuesday after it said its fourth-quarter net profit rose 192 percent year-on-year to $247.4 million.

The firm reported record net profit of $606 million for the year ended Dec 31, 2010, compared with $556 million a year earlier, helped by broad-based growth at its commodity segments. At 0115 GMT, Noble shares were up 4.4 percent at S$2.14 on a volume of 9.1 million shares.

OCBC Investment Research, which maintained its buy rating but raised its target price on Noble to S$2.92 from S$2.59, said the firm’s earnings exceeded its expectations.

“Noble’s robust 4Q10 performance was driven by broad-based revenue and volume growth across all bulk commodity segments as the group’s recent investments have started to contribute meaningfully,” OCBC said in a report.

The brokerage added that it expects Noble’s earnings growth momentum to gather pace in 2011 on the back of increasing contributions from the firm’s investments and the global economic recovery.

<!–a href="mailto:a1admin@sph.com.sg?subject=S pore-listed Noble jumps on strong Q4 result"><br/–>