Short Monitor – A shorting pandemic

The number of weekly short disclosures increased by 10.7x from 47 at the start of the year to a high of 550 as at 23 March. Between 3 February (158 shorts, the last trough) and 27 March they increased by 2.5x. However, last week the number of shorts fell by 44% from 550 to 306 and the FTSE All-Share performed positively for the first time in March, rising 8% since the close on Monday 23 March.

Premier Oil remains the most shorted stock in the UK with 20.5% of its issued share capital (ISC) on borrow, representing an increase of 1.9% since the end of February. Flutter Entertainment moves from the third to the second most shorted stock with 13.5% of its ISC on borrow. On 16 March, Flutter stated that the cancellation of major sports events due to the COVID-19 pandemic would have a significant material impact on revenue and earnings. EasyJet (-61% ytd) and Keywords Studios (-14% ytd) are all new additions to the ‘top total UK shorts’ chart this year. This morning (30 March), EasyJet announced that it has grounded its entire fleet for the foreseeable future and its share price is down 6% today.