SHARE IN FOCUS 2: The liberation strike remains denied to Adler Group

(new: course development)

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – There was not much left of a brilliant price rally in the shares of Adler Group (ADLER) on Friday. With a plus of 20 percent, the papers reacted to the news in early trading that the company was relieved of allegations of systematic fraud. In the further course, however, the profits melted down continuously to a good one percent in the end. Possibly the investors didn’t quite trust the initially positive news after all – and preferred to take profits.

The auditor KPMG found deficiencies in the documentation and in the processing of some transactions, Adler Group announced on Friday night. However, there was no evidence of systematic “fraudulent or company-exploiting transactions with allegedly related persons”. The test goes back to allegations by the investment company Viceroy of the short buyer Fraser Perring. He first made serious allegations at the beginning of October 2021 – among other things with a view to the valuation of real estate projects.

On October 4, 2021, the Adler Group announced a strategic realignment. The sale of parts of the rental portfolio should be examined, the proceeds from this could be used to buy back bonds and shares. The share price then shot up by almost 18 percent, of which a meager 2.6 percent remained at the end of the day. The next day, the papers collapsed by more than eleven percent.

It cannot be ruled out that the financial vehicle Viceroy sold shares in Adler Group short during this phase, i.e. bet that prices would continue to fall. Because a day later, on October 6th, the short seller reported on Twitter that a report dedicated to the Adler Group had been completed. The course then fell by 33 percent to EUR 9.025. It was the lowest level in the stock market’s history of a good six years to date. Within three trading days, the price had almost halved from high to low.

In the months that followed, the price fluctuated around the eleven euro mark, sometimes with sharp swings. With prices over 14 euros, the papers would have waved a break out of this trading range, which the share with a daily high of 13.95 euros at the start of the stock market was denied./bek/he