Short seller Carson Block said he is betting against shares of Olam International -- the commodities trader part-owned by Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings -- because he questions the company's accounting methods, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday on its website.
Olam is "heavily" indebted and aggressive in how it reports what the company calls biological gains on investments, the report quoted Mr. Block as saying at the Ira Sohn Investment Conference in London. "It's a leap of faith to think the company is being honest with its valuation" gains, he said, according to the report.
Olam is "dismayed at the nature and lack of substance" of Mr. Block's comments, and wasn't contacted before by him or his Muddy Waters LLC research firm, the report quoted Olam's Chief Executive Officer Sunny Verghese as saying in an emailed statement, adding that he was waiting for a report from Muddy Waters and "will strongly defend Olam's excellent reputation for transparency and good governance."
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