Fortnox' 'quite sensitive' valuation hit by media report
27/03/2024 13:39
(Adds CEO comments, updates share move and reflects heavy
volumes in the first bullet point)
** Shares in the Swedish accounting solutions firm Fortnox
FNOX.ST drop 10% in heavy volumes at 13:20 GMT, paring earlier
losses of as much as 15.3%, after a report in the Financial
Times said the stock attracts short sellers
** "I believe the valuation was quite sensitive to negative
news like the FT article," Redeye analyst Fredrik Nilsson says
** He points out the valuation has risen from about 13x NTM
(next twelve months) sales to about 22x NTM sales in just four
months following the Q4 report and short covering
** According to Financial Supervisory Authority's
website, 2.31% of Fortnox' shares are shorted
** "I run the company, and we're trying to do as good as
possible, and then who buys and sells the share and who's not is
not for me to comment on," Fortnox' CEO Tommy Eklund told
Reuters
** Redeye's Nilsson says he does not see any new information
in the media story, but says some investors might have had much
higher expectations on future net customer growth than the
brokerage has
** Some hedge funds, analysts wonder how Fortnox increased
revenues "with metronomic regularity" and question the size of
the group's addressable market that exceeds the number of
businesses counted by Sweden's statistical agency, the Financial
Times report said
** CEO Eklund told Reuters Fortnox's addressable market
of 1.5 million companies that it had talked about during its CMD
in 2021 included 400 other organisations like sports clubs or
religious organisations that could use its products
** The stock, on track for its worst day in five months, is
among worst performers on STOXX 600 index .STOXX
(Reporting by Agata Rybska)
((gdansk.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com;))