Making sense of the recent short attack against Silverlake Axis Ltd
Over the past few years, it seems that companies in Singapore’s stock market have been an attractive target for market participants who publish negative investing reports.
It wasn’t too long ago when commodities trader Olam International Ltd
(SGX: O32) first
found itself in the crosshairs of the short-seller Muddy Waters in 2012. Since then, there have been a slew of critical reports appearing, targeting companies like Sino Grandness Food Industry Group Ltd
(SGX: T4B), China Minzhong Food Corporation Limited
(SGX: K2N), and more recently, Noble Group Limited
(SGX: N21).
(For more on the reports concerning the latter trio, see
here,
here, and
here.)
Last week, another locally-listed firm joined the list and it’s none other than Silverlake Axis Ltd
(SGX: 5CP), a Malaysia-based software company. Silverlake Axis, whose technological products, systems, and solutions serve many major financial institutions in the Southeast Asia region, is one of the most successful software companies that Malaysia has produced.
From the fiscal year ended 30 June 2005 (FY2005) to FY2015, Silverlake Axis has seen its revenue and profit jump five- and four-fold respectively.
But, an investing report was published on 20 August 2015 in which the writer, who “may” be short Silverlake Axis’s shares (when you’re short, you’re betting that the price of a stock will fall), has likened Silverlake Axis to high-profile fraud cases in the past involving software companies like Longtop Financial from China and Satyam Computer Services from India. It’s a serious accusation.
According to the 42-page report, Silverlake Axis has huge related-party transactions (RPT) with private companies that are linked to its executive chairman and founder, Goh Peng Ooi. Moreover, these RPTs are huge, accounting for around a quarter of Silverlake Axis’ revenue and expenses. Some of the more serious accusations that are levelled against Silverlake Axis in the report include:
Some RPTs are fake transactions that are purely used to inflate Silverlake Axis’s profit.
Silverlake Axis had acquired and/or merged with a number of private companies that are held by Goh over the years. But prior to the corporate actions, the private companies had inflated their revenues and profits; this in essence results in Silverlake Axis overpaying for them.
Goh has been enriching himself at the expense of Silverlake Axis’s minority shareholders.
Goh’s accused of impropriety through the construction of a “complex and deceiving corporate structure” with Silverlake Axis.
Foolish Summary
The allegations made by the anonymous writer of the investing report is very severe. When the report was first published, Silverlake Axis’s share price saw a hefty 24% collapse the very next day on Friday, 21 August 2015.
Given the severity of the accusations, it will be surprising if Silverlake Axis does not take action against the writer and others who may be involved with the report. In a statement filed with bourse operator and regulator Singapore Exchange yesterday, Silverlake Axis mentioned that it’s currently seeking legal advice on the matter.
The company also commented in the same filing that it “will be engaging Deloitte Singapore to undertake an independent review of the allegations… referred to in the Report and to provide its finding and conclusions as to their veracity, which [Silverlake Axis] will publish in due course.”
1.看完这篇文章后想和大家分享一下卖空股票。股市里要如何赚大钱，在马来西亚很多时候只有股票上涨才能够赚钱。但是最近马来西亚和新加坡开始兴起卖空股票的风潮（根据大马证券交易所的规定，卖空股票需要向有关当局申请）像是最近的 Airasia 和这只新加坡股 Silverlake Axis Ltd。
2.这些卖空都是由外资操盘的，他们运用大量的资金再加上一份报告就足以把你多年来的“努力”一扫而空。当然我觉得他们不是随便乱来的，你看那些受攻击的公司规模都不小。
Airasia 最高RM2.90 最低RM0.765 足足跌了73.60%
Olam 最高SGD2.55 最低SGD1.68 跌了34.11%
这是否也证明了，他们所选写的报告是对的？
3.股市不单是牛市才能赚钱，熊市也有钱途！从危机中寻求转机固然不简单，一般而言涉及的资金非常庞大，但从中带来的盈利非常可观。那么这场大户的游戏派对，身为散户的你我又怎样拿到加入呢？
4.这里为大家举个例子：现阶段的股市很多人都说是熊市对吧，这也意味着股市仍有下行风险。在马来西亚如果你持有某一只股票你可以选择短时间内以某个价位先卖过后才买回，这样的做法没有违规。通常先卖后买可以在同一天里执行或等待更久在价钱低的时候才买回。这不仅要有接受风险的胆识，而投资者也必须对这只股票的波动很了解。
5.如果你是风险爱好者，在股市每况愈下的时候，与其每天无时无刻地期盼股票回温，不如注意它的跌势，掌握时机，逆境求存。投资里没有稳赚不赔的生意；此做法有机会拉低你的本钱，但如果对股票资讯缺乏掌握或时机不当，则有可能面临巨大的损失。
6.这个方法不简单，需要经验但不代表你做不到，有挑战才会有进步。个人认为最近这些卖空的人很专业，如果有任何报告出来又大量卖空的话还是小心为妙。
以上纯属个人分析与评论，如有任何疑问，欢迎与我交流讨论。
From：林友志 （Lim Yu Chee)
