HK's Techtronic Industries denies short-seller report alleging profit manipulation (updated)

Techtronic Industries Co

23/02/2023 16:05

(Adds further background)
       Feb 23 (Reuters) - 
    Hong Kong-listed power tools maker Techtronic Industries
 0669.HK  on Thursday denied allegations of profit manipulation
made by short-seller Jehoshaphat Research. 
    In a research report published on its website on Wednesday,
Jehoshaphat Research, which claims to "operate anonymously,"
accused the company of inflating profit for over a decade by
"manipulative accounting".
        Techtronic said the short seller did not contact the
company during its research process. Jehoshaphat says its
research included phone conversations with "experts outside and
(formerly) inside" the company. 
  
        Techtronic shares fell more than 19% on Thursday, before
they were halted. The company said trading will resume on
Friday. 
  
        Jehoshaphat, which holds short positions on Techtronic's
securities, says the stock has a downside of 60% to 80%.
        Short-seller reports have been responsible for steep
drops in the shares of Hong Kong-listed retailer 
    MINISO  9896.HK  and EV maker NIO Inc  9866.HK . Most
recently, a short-seller report spurred an over $100 billion
rout in shares of India's Adani Group companies.
        Jehoshaphat was not immediately available for comment.
  
 (Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan and Navya Mittal in
Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
 ((Harshita.Swaminathan@thomsonreuters.com;
Navya.Mittal@thomsonreuters.com))