Shades of Steinhoff as poorly named Resilient takes another big knock

By Alec Hogg

Short selling research shop Viceroy made a huge impact on South African investors after its scathing report hastened the demise of Steinhoff. Fresh from that victory, it teased the market with a tweet saying its team was in SA and had identified another JSE-listed stock for the Viceroy treatment.

That sparked a frenzy among traders, with pharma group Aspen and Des de Beer's stable of property funds identified as the most likely targets. Aspen's Stephen Saad reacted strongly to offer a counter to the rumours. De Beer, whose listings are headed by Resilient, chose to stay under the radar.

As it happened, neither was the target with Viceroy's guns firing blanks at Capitec. And Aspen's spirited defence worked, with the share price stabilising after an initial sell-off. But the the De Beer stocks hit a slippery slope and are still falling.

Resilient's share price dropped another 10% to R70 yesterday, down more than half from early January. Traders believe there's plenty of smoke where that Viceroy-instigated fire began. Some even predicting Steinhoff will soon have a stablemate.