// THG boss Matthew Moulding calls out the Financial Times and journalist Dan McCrum on its article surrounding audit concerns flagged in the company’s report
// “We were given 2 hours to respond before the FT would print. Sounds sensational right?,” he wrote on LinkedIn
THG chief executive Matthew Moulding has taken aim at the Financial Times and its investigations journalist Dan McCrum in a LinkedIn rant.
The online retailer boss, who last month published a lengthy video on social media taking aim at institutional investors, stockbrokers, analysts and the media for impacting company share prices, took umbrage with McCrum’s approach to publishing a story in the FT Alphaville column.
The story flagged concerns raised by auditors EY in the group’s annual report, specifically around the financial treatment of THG Ingenuity.
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Moulding not only objected to the story but complained about how he was approached by the publication for comment.
“Here’s an insight into the weekly “fun” in running THG,” he wrote.
“We were given 2 hours to respond before the FT would print. Sounds sensational right?
“Straight after the call, THG’s share price starts to fall, losing 5% despite market share prices rising in general.
“It’s amazing the number of times a share price falls the day before a negative story is written….telepathy must be a key skill in Hedge Fund recruitment.”
Moulding pointed out that similar fraud risk statements appear in most financial reports, including the likes of Tesco and JD Sports, and is also outlined in the FT’s own audited accounts.
“The FT’s own auditors see Fraud Risk in advertising revenues and management overriding controls – chunky!
“And so, yet again, after time and effort from the THG team, plus lawyers, we prove another story as fake.
“But that’s not the end of it. Too often a commitment has been made to run a negative story against THG, and so the angle has to change but a negative story comes anyway.”
The chief executive published a lengthy video in April calling out ‘over-fishing’ from institutional investors, stockbrokers, analysts and the media.
The video included stats about THG’s growth and expansion, negative newspaper headlines and snippets from popular cult films Wolf of Wall Street and American Psycho.
Last week, the group’s shares tumbled 9.4% after it terminated talks with private equity giant Apollo about a possible takeover deal.
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