Trader Who Shorted Steinhoff Leaves Capitec Rattled and South Africa Confused
- Viceroy, triumphant on Steinhoff, says lender conceals losses
- Capitec’s CEO says report is incorrect as shares plunge, rally
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South Africa’s best-performing stock of the last decade, Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd., was rattled after a short seller alleged the lender was concealing significant write-offs. The bank denied the allegations and fired back by reporting Viceroy Research to regulators.
Capitec, which makes unsecured loans mainly to low- and middle-income households, posted its biggest-ever intraday share drop on Tuesday. It then recovered most of those losses after South Africa’s central bank said it has no evidence to suggest the lender’s stability is in question.