In a horrid end to a very trying year Hong Kong’s Noble Group has been deemed junk status by a leading ratings agency.

Yesterday Moody’s, citing “concerns over the company’s liquidity”, cut its outlook on Noble, a company that lost more than 60% of its value on the Singapore Exchange this year, to Baa3.

Noble, Asia’s top commodities trader, has been hit by fierce critics from a number of analysts all year long.

Noble responded on Wednesday claiming in a release that the company was in good shape, especially once it offloads Noble Agri for $750m to China’s COFCO, and that the current environment is “opportunity rich and plays to our strengths”.