Boohoo held its title as the UK’s most shorted stock in September for the second consecutive month as short positions in the company reached 10.4%.
The online fashion retailer that owns brands such as PrettyLittleThing, Debenhams and Dorothy Perkins had the biggest increase in short positions than any other stock in the top 10, increasing 2.7 percentage points in September.
One firm, AHL Partners, removed their 0.8% short position in Boohoo throughout the month but this was offset by the BG Master Fund and Citadel Advisors, who took out positions in the company totalling 1.6%.
Likewise, all eight firms that already held a position in Boohoo last month increased each of their bets against the business by a collective 1%, suggesting that investors are forecasting a bleaker outlook.
Source: Financial Conduct Authority
The steep rise in shorts came after the company released its mid-year interim results, which revealed that profits had fallen 13% and sales were down 10% in the six months to the end of August.
Boohoo expects these declines in revenue to persist throughout the rest of the year, with its cash profit expectations lowered to between 3% and 5% from a 4%-7% range.
Its share price dropped 7.8% when the report was released last week, with its value dropping 15.8% in the past month alone. Shares have fallen 69.3% in total so far this year, as investors have moved away from the general online shopping trend that was so prosperous during the pandemic.
Share price of Boohoo in 2022
Source: Google Finance
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said that investors were “crying into their cornflakes” after reading the half-year results as Boohoo failed to curb its supply chain issues.
The opening of its new distribution centre in the US next year could alleviate some of its supply chain issues, but Nathan said that it will still be “tough going amid the deepening cost-of-living squeeze”.
Sharp rises in inflation could hit Boohoo’s key demographic of young people the hardest, but the group’s expansion into other brands could diversify its customer base, according to Laura Hoy, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
She said: “While the group’s appeal to the younger generation remains in question as budgets are stretched, the addition of new brands that cater to different demographics have the potential to bring fresh growth through the door.”
Boohoo was not the only online retailer to suffer from the curtails of supply chain bottlenecks and tightening consumer spending in September, with short positions in ASOS increasing by a milder 0.5 percentage points.
It is the UK’s second most shorted company behind Boohoo as the number of short positions reached 7% last month. However, the company’s share price has fallen even further than that of Boohoo this year, down 74.5%.
Charlie Huggins, head of equities at Wealth Club, described Boohoo and ASOS’ performance this year as “nothing short of dire”.
Share price of ASOS in 2022
Source: Google Finance
Of the top 10 most shorted companies, investors took the second-most short positions during September in travel company easyJet, as the number of bets against it jumped 1.9 percentage points during the month.
It had 3.3% of its shares shorted at the start of the month but leapt from 21st place to 8th by the end of the September as positions increased to 5.2%.
Many commercial airlines have been forced to cancel flights throughout the busy summer period due to strikes, but easyJet was particularly exposed to the worst-affected airports, according to Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Likewise, the cost-of-living crisis could also deter consumers from splashing out on expensive luxuries such as holidays as the prices of everyday necessities steadily rise.
Nevertheless, of all the commercial airlines, easyJet could be one of the least effected by inflation as its budget flights might be more appealing to money-conscious holidaymakers.
Lund-Yates said: “As households continue to feel the pinch, we may well see another resurgence in the stay-cation trend seen during the pandemic as families try to economise.
“The airlines best primed to encourage people to fly in these circumstances are those that offer reasonable rates to short and medium-haul destinations, with the added benefit of flying into more centralised airports a very real sweetener in easyJet’s toolkit.”