How to Lose $86 Million in Just Three Weeks
Only the short-sellers are happy about Europe’s biggest consumer electronics retailer, Ceconomy.
Back in May, this electronics retail giant said it had a good grip on its business. It really didn't.
Photographer: Horacio Villalobos/Corbis News
How do you mislay 75 million euros ($86 million) of operating profit in just three weeks? That’s the question Ceconomy AG investors are asking themselves on Tuesday after the German electronics retailer issued its second profit warning in rapid succession.
Bizarrely, the company hasn’t provided an explanation for the further 16 percent downgrade to its operating profit forecast for the financial year that ended Sept. 30. Hence investors have drawn their own conclusions, and they’re not good. The shares plunged as much as 22 percent, bringing the decline this year to an eye-watering 63 percent. Only the short-sellers who’ve taken an interest in the business — carved out of retail giant Metro AG in 2017 — will be pleased about that.