INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Shares of Infibeam Avenues fell as much as 73 per cent on Friday after a WhatsApp message doing the rounds alleged corporate governance
This is the steepest single-day fall after Satyam Computers Services which plunged 83 per cent on January 7, 2009, after the accounting scam
broke out.
Nearly Rs 9,200 crore worth of investor wealth in Infibeam, India's first listed e-commerce company, was eroded on Friday as
market capitalisation of the company plunged to Rs 3,900 crore from Rs 13,105 crore on Thursday
Infibeam shares ended at Rs 58.80, down by Rs 138.75, or 70.24 per cent, over the previous day.
The WhatsApp message, which was attributed
to brokerage Equirus, raised questions on the company's accounting practices.
The note said the company gave an interest-free and
unsecured loan to a subsidiary with negative net assets to be repaid over eight years
The note also mentioned that the company has re-classified its co-founder, who continues to hold a large chunk of shares, as non-promoter
This triggered a sell-off in the shares, said dealers.
Equirus Capital denied it had issued the note.
In response to an ET query, the
These loans are short-term loans which are repayable on demand and have been utilised by NSI solely for its business and
Unwinding by arbitrage mutual funds, which had bought Infibeam shares and simultaneously sold its stock futures, pushed the stock
buying stock in the cash market and simultaneously selling it in stock futures.
Arbitrage schemes together held Infibeam shares worth Rs 423
crore as on August 31, according to Value Research.
The ecomm company had raised as much as Rs 450 crore through an IPO in March 2016
From its stock market debut till September 17, the stock gained 436 per cent.
Such sharp falls in its stock price are not new to Infibeam
The stock fell 40 per cent intra-day on September 25, 2017 and 40 per cent again on December 29, 2017
The shares fell 40 per cent on September 21
Nomura Singapore held 2.5 per cent stake in the company as on June 2018 while Polus Global Fund held 1.06 per cent.
Some said stocks like
