Air New Zealand's operations may not have been greatly affected by the shutdown of European air traffic last month but many investors have bet on it hitting the share price, with short trading in the stock increasing by 2494% in April.Air New Zealand was
Air New Zealand’s operations may not have been greatly affected by the shutdown of European air traffic last month but many investors have bet on it hitting the share price, with short trading in the stock increasing by 2494% in April.
Air New Zealand was easily the most actively shorted stock on the New Zealand share market last month, according to the NZX Short Sale Report for April.
There were a total of $1.3 million worth of short sales in Air NZ last month, compared to $51,258 the previous month.
The volume of shot sales grew by 2351%, from 39.264 to 962,236 as investors bet that the stock would suffer.
The airline has downplayed any effects from the almost week-long shutdown of all air traffic over Europe last month, saying it was just a small part of its business.
But airline stocks around the world have seen dramatic drops in the fallout from the Iceland volcano and Air NZ was no exception.
Air NZ’s share price has fallen from $1.41 at the start of the grounding period to open today at $1.24 – a 12.1% fall.
Ten most actively shorted stocks on the NZX in April (by value):
Air New Zealand - $1,329,628
Sky City - $524,928
Telecom - $486,289
Westpac - $441,832
Fletcher Building - $372,171
Nuplex - $271,784
Telstra - $205,590
KIP Trust - $200,000
F&P Healthcare - $159,448
Kathmandu - $136,250
