Numis Securities rubbishes Muddy Waters' Burford Capital claims

Reiterates 'buy' recommendation

Broker Numis Securities has likened Muddy Waters' claim that litigation financier Burford Capital is "arguably insolvent" to "comments like the Earth is arguably flat" and reiterated its 'buy' recommendation on the stock.

A note from US hedge fund Muddy Waters on 6 August announcing that it had begun shorting Burford also claimed the firm was insolvent and had misled investors in its financial reports. The claims led to an ongoing dispute between the two parties, with Burford accusing Muddy Waters of manipulating its share price. The stock more than halved initially, but has recovered to trade at 850p at the time of writing, down 25% on its pre-note price. But today (16 August) James Hamilton, an analyst in Numis's specialist financials team, rubbished Muddy Waters' claims of insolvency. "We believe th...