Capitec’s share price fell 12.6% on Wednesday to close at R800.60, as confusion reigned among market participants after a blistering report issued on Tuesday by short sellers Viceroy Research. Meanwhile, questions have been raised over as to whether Viceroy Research has ties with overseas hedge funds. The stock’s fall belied the views of fund managers and analysts who have distanced themselves from Viceroy’s findings. Denker Capital’s Kokkie Kooyman said Capitec was "still not African Bank". "Capitec has since inception been very prudent in making adequate bad-debt provisions as soon as a client misses a payment," Kooyman said. In an explosive report released earlier this week — in which Capitec became Viceroy’s second South African target after Steinhoff — Viceroy claim that Capitec should immediately impair R11bn (about 14% of the bank’s assets) to reflect its true bad debts. Capitec has dismissed this, saying Viceroy’s estimates did not accurately calculate client repayments or d...

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