(Alliance News) - The chief executive of cash-strapped mine developer Sirius Minerals PLC told the Times that online shareholder chat forums are a "disgrace" and should be shut down.
CEO Chris Fraser said UK regulator the Financial Conduct Authority should investigate the bulletin boards, which he said might be to blame for a recent fall in Sirius shares, the newspaper reported.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shareholder-chat-forums-should-be-shut-down-says-sirius-boss-chris-fraser-qh8q5zrkw
Sirius is building the Woodsmith potash mine in North Yorkshire and a tunnel to transport material from the mine, near Whitby, to Redcar harbour. Woodsmith has the world's largest and highest grade polyhalite deposit, and Sirius is hoping to extract it to make fertiliser.
The stock had been a darling of retail investors, propelling it into the FTSE 250 index of London mid-caps.
However, last month, Sirius shelved a USD500 million debt fundraising, casting doubt over its plans to construct the giant mine, and shares are down 80% so far in 2019. They were up 10% on the day at 4.20p on Tuesday.
According to the Times, Sirius CEO Fraser said he believes that a 10% fall in the Sirius share price the afternoon prior to its funding announcement may have been caused by a post on an online forum falsely claiming Sirius was about to announcing an equity raise.
The Times cited forums run by ADVFN PLC and London South East as being the most prominent in the UK. In the newspaper report, executives from both firms defended the value of forums for sharing information. The Times said the FCA declined to comment.
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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