Debenhams shares sold before trade report

Short sellers have sold more than 200m shares in Debenhams, the retailer they do not own, ahead of Debenhams' trading update later this month, according to Data Explorers, a research company that monitors stock lending to detect short-selling.

As was reported in The Sunday Telegraph: "Hedge funds have been shorting Debenhams' stock since June last year, but we have seen exceptional borrowing activity during the last week," said Alex Hoffman of Data Explorers. Debenhams shares fell - alongside other retailers - to close at an all time low of 75¾p on Friday. The company was floated by its private equity owners at 195p in May 2006. Citigroup - which along with Merrill Lynch bought Debenhams to the market - expects like-for-like sales at Debenhams to have fallen by 1 per cent. Credit Suisse is forecasting a 2 per cent fall in like-for-like sales.