Hindenburg’s latest short target Temenos rejects allegations as share price tumbles

Shares in Swiss software company Temenos were down over 6% on Friday afternoon, extending Thursday’s losses when they closed over 28% lower.

Temenos on Thursday released a statement saying its board of directors “fundamentally refutes” a report by short-seller Hindenburg Research.

Temenos shares were down 6.1% at 1:17 p.m. London time, trading around 59.66 Swiss francs ($67.67).

In its statement, Temenos said Hindenburg’s report “contains factual inaccuracies and analytical errors, together with false and misleading allegations … The Company was not contacted in advance for any comment on the report.”

Temenos said it would release its audited 2023 results after market close Monday, as previously scheduled, and that the earnings are in line with a pre-results announcement made in January. The company declined to comment when approached by CNBC Friday.

Investment research firm Hindenburg Research’s report alleged “hallmarks of manipulated earnings and major accounting irregularities” at Temenos.

Hindenburg said it was basing its allegations on a four-month investigation which included interviews with 25 former employees of Temenos and assessments of litigation records and financial statements.

Hindenburg Research’s previous short targets include activist investor Carl Icahn’s Icahn Enterprises and Indian conglomerate Adani Group.

Its Adani report, published in early 2023, accused the company of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.” Adani firmly denied the allegations, which it said were “unsubstantiated speculations.”

In the wake of the report, Adani’s market value lost over $100 billion and it canceled a $2.5 billion equity sale. The Securities and Exchange Board of India also opened an investigation into Adani.

In January, the country’s Supreme Court, which is overseeing the probe, said there was no basis for the case to be handed over to other authorities and told the regulator to conclude its investigation within three months.