Short-seller who sparked Home Reit share price crash set to pocket £4m from bet that the stock would slide
The short-seller who sparked a share price crash at embattled property firm Home Reit is in line to pocket thousands and thousands from his bet that the stock would slide.
Fraser Perring, whose Viceroy Research triggered a selloff in November after publishing a damning report questioning the group’s business model and its ability to gather rent, is estimated to have made just over £4 million.
The 49-year-old took a 0.82 per cent short position against Home Reit – akin to just lower than 6.5million shares at a median price of 100p each – before Viceroy published its broadside.
Perring took a 0.82 per cent short position against Home Reit, which provides properties to assist house the homeless
Trading in Home Reit’s shares was suspended on Tuesday after the group didn’t publish its accounts on time as its auditor rushed to examine the numbers following the accusations.
The stock was suspended at around 38p, meaning Perring pocketed around 62p in profit for every share in his position.
Between the report’s publication and the suspension, Home Reit lost around 51 per cent of its value because it failed to completely reassure investors, despite labelling the allegations as ‘baseless and misleading’.
The corporate, which provides properties to assist house the homeless, suffered one other blow last week when its investment adviser, Alvarium, split off the division answerable for managing the trust’s portfolio in an try and distance itself from the scandal.
Commercial
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