Samsonite has seen its shares recover more than 15.2 per cent as its chief executive quits amid allegations the company was “massaging earnings”.
Following a damning report from short seller Blue Orcha last week, which accused the world’s largest suitcase manufacturer of “dodgy” transactions, taking specific aim at its chief executive Ramesh Tainwala and his “resume fraud of claiming to be a doctor when he is not.”
The accusations caused the retailers stock to dive more than 20 per cent last week on the Hong Kong stock exchange, with Samsonite briefly freezing stock.
According to a stock exchange filing today, Tainwala has now submitted his resignation and he will be succeeded by Kyle Francis Gendreau.
In response to last week’s accusations, Samsonite’s chairman Timothy Parker said the report “contained the opinions of a short seller whose interests may not be aligned with those of shareholders in general, and that it may be intended specifically to undermine confidence in the company and its management, and to harm its reputation”.
He added that he reserved the right to take legal action against the hedge fund and that he intended to “draw a line under this matter as quickly as possible, and move on to focus on … the future growth of our business”.
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