Embattled Texas-based surgical facility roll-up Nobilis Health (
TSX:NHC,
Forum) launched upwards 18.8% today upon release of its Q3 results.
Utmost in the minds of investors wasn’t profits (though the company had its
strongest quarter ever, generating $139.2 million in revenue and $6m in net income), however.
Rather, the results satisfy the NYSE-MKT exchange’s demand that financials be filed by early February in order for the
company to remain listed, and the Ontario Securities Commission’s similar request to do so in order to lift a company-requested ‘management cease trade order.’
The delay in financials had come as the company engaged a new auditor, following a 2015 that saw the company share base shredded after
anonymous allegations on Seeking Alpha by an admitted short seller that the company was fudging its numbers.
Though immediately awash in class action lawsuit investigations, Nobilis immediately looked to an independent auditor to investigate the Seeking Alpha blogger claims, and published an
ensuing report that decried all allegations as false and unfounded.
Nobilis is
suing UK-based Anson Funds, and analyst Sunny Puri, for $300 million, the amount the company says was lost on its market cap, following
Puri’s publishing of the alleged falsehoods.
The case is
Nobilis Health Corp. v. Sunny Puri, M5V Advisors, Inc (c.o.b. as Anson Group Canada), Admiralty Advisors, LLC, Frigate Ventures, LP, Anson Investments LP, Anson Capital, LC, Anson Investments Master Fund, LP, AIMF, GP, Anson Catalyst Master Fund, LP, ACF GP, and John Does 1 through 20, Court File No. CV-15-11162-0000, Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
REACTION:
Shares are up $0.66 to $4.06 on high trading volume, way up from the $2.83 52-week low at the height of the crisis, but still well down from the $6.93 the company was trading at in the days leading up to the infamous article.
OUR TAKE:
Nobilis’ quarterlies are a strong bounce back for a company that appears to have lost more than half its value through no fault of its own.
‘Short and distort’ attacks are the norm nowadays, and they largely go as unpunished as do pump and dump campaigns. A company fighting back is a nice change.
Assuming Nobilis management has correctly identified the author and backers of the Seeking Alpha piece, that lawsuit should go ahead with vigor. That said, Anson has offices in Guernsey, the British Virgin Islands, and the Caymans, and says on its website that the advantage of working with them is any lawsuit against an issuer must be filed in the ‘
jurisdiction in which the issuer is incorporated’, which may point to it being difficult for Nobilis to collect with Anson giving its head office as the Guernsey location.
Either way, the financials show the company is WAY oversold. Worth a look for those looking for long term gains in an awful market.
--Chris Parry
https://www.twitter.com/chrisparry