A bet of almost €1bn has been placed against the stock of Telecom Italia by short sellers unimpressed with Chief Executive Officer Pietro Labriola’s plan to cut company debt through an asset sale, according to a report by the Financial Times.
The report cites data from S&P Global as showing that a record 20% of the company’s stock, worth €930m, has been borrowed by short sellers gambling that the price will fall.
According to regulatory filings, hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies is among Telecom Italia’s short sellers, with a 0.72% position, while Canada Pension Plan Investment Board holds 0.5%.
The rest of the short positions against the company fall below Europe’s 0.5% threshold for disclosure, indicating that a large number of investors are betting against the company.
Bets against Telecom Italia have almost doubled since Labriola unveiled his three-year turnaround earlier this month, which includes the sale of the company’s landline network to US private equity group KKR and a reduction in net debt from €20bn to about €7bn by 2026.
News of the plan sent shares tumbling by 24% on 7 March and the short sellers are betting that Telecom Italia’s stock has further to fall.
