CAB Payments, the FTSE 250 foreign exchange firm, is facing allegations of misleading information in its IPO prospectus, leading to calls for an investigation by investors including RC Brown and Polar Capital. The company's prospectus was endorsed by JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Barclays (LON:BARC). The allegations stem from CAB's operations in West African markets, where central bank interventions in currencies such as the Nigerian naira and the Central African and West African francs led to a significant reduction in CAB's revenue expectations. This news triggered a sharp fall in CAB's share price on Monday, October 24.
The most drastic drop in share price was seen on October 24 when shares plummeted from 216.5 pence to 60.8 pence due to these central bank interventions. Since its £851m IPO on July 6, which was London's largest this year and raised £335m from investors, CAB has experienced a 76.5% drop in share price. This decrease has resulted in the company's market capitalization falling from £851m to £173m post-IPO, marking it as the worst-performing IPO globally this year.
Oliver Brown of RC Brown has criticized CAB Payments for operating in risky parallel markets and accuses advisers of ignoring this risk in the prospectus. He has demanded an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Despite his claims, the prospectus did include risk disclosures about African operations. Both Barclays and JP Morgan, who facilitated CAB's floatation, along with the FCA, have declined to comment on the matter.
Despite the significant share price drop, analysts continue to support CAB Payments.
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