It seems the City is betting against Debenhams PLC (LON:DEB) ahead of its full-year results on Thursday, with the department store one of the most shorted stocks in London.
New boss Sergio Bucher outlined a strategic review back in April which focuses on the customer experience, saying he wanted to ‘remove barriers to shopping’, both online and in-store.
READ: Store revamps the key for Debenhams and Carpetright, but updates prove diverse direction for the retailers
Investors obviously haven’t been too impressed and shares are down almost 15% since, even with a minor rally in recent weeks.
June’s trading update failed to inspire as well, as like-for-like sales fell 0.9% in the 15 weeks to June 17, and Debenhams hinted that further currency volatility could leave results near the bottom end of guidance.
Short sellers have been piling into the stock for most of the year and the last update added to more of the same. Currently at least 12.8% of Debenhams shares are out on loan, with more possibly shorted as well.
Analysts at AJ Bell said: “Besides the like-for-like headline sales figure and the new structure, watch for trends on online revenues – £150 million in extra mobile investment across 2018-2020 and £50 million of exceptional cost – and trends in gross and operating margin.”
As for what analysts think, they’re looking for pre-tax profits of £96mln (2016: £106mln).
Shares were up 0.6% to 47.5p in early afternoon trade on Monday.