The Hut Group (THG) co-founder and CEO, Matthew Moulding, has called out institutional investors, stockbrokers, analysts and the media against “fake news” and frequent media intrusion.
In a statement posted on social media, Moulding wrote it has “sadly become standard practice for a select few within the world of hedge funds, media and bank analysts to regularly build negative coverage against UK-listed companies, including THG.
“The purpose of ‘the game’ is simple: bet that a share price will fall, and make sure you win the bet by doing everything possible to discredit the company.
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“The more aggressive the claims and actions against a company, the bigger the share price impact. Strange work, I know, but it pays big. And if you repeat it time and again, against a plethora of UK-listed companies, then the rewards are mind-boggling.”
He added: “In simple terms, the UK market has suffered from years of “over-fishing”, where small groups of industry professionals come together to try and damage UK businesses, and their share prices.
“Nobody tells you about this when joining the LSE, but it finds you soon enough. The number of CEOs of other listed companies that have reached out to me since THG joined the LSE is remarkable. Each wanting to share their war stories.”
This comes as it was reported Moulding was told to get his house in order as the company prepared to reveal more losses in its full-year results after it was rumoured Moulding could be considering taking the company private.
Mouldings comments follow The Hut Group (THG) recently reported a £495.6 million loss in its full-year results, attributing the “challenging global environment”.
The online-retailer claims in the year ended 31 December 2022, its performance was impacted by the non-cash impairment of £275.4 million, in addition to certain non-recurring costs which THG “continues to reduce”.
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