Temenos shares extend slide after Hindenburg allegations

ZURICH (Reuters) - Shares in Temenos fell more than 9% on Friday, a day after a Hindenburg Research report alleging accounting irregularities wiped off more than a quarter of the Swiss financial software company's value.

Temenos said its board of directors rejected the report published by Hindenburg and that it was confident in the strength of its business, performance and cash position.

Still, one activist shareholder, Petrus Advisers, said the Hindenburg report showed it was time for CEO Andreas Andreades to step down, noting it had previously sought his removal.

In a letter to Temenos chairman Thibault de Tersant, Petrus Advisers said Andreades had created a culture that favoured "short-term gains over long-term value creation" and that he should be replaced with immediate effect.

While describing some of the content in the report as "hearsay" from "disgruntled Temenos executives" Petrus urged Temenos to address quickly certain allegations it contained.

Petrus says it is one of the biggest shareholders in Temenos, with a stake of just under 3%.

The software company declined to comment on the shareholder's letter.

The Swiss company said the Hindenburg report contained factual inaccuracies and analytical errors, as well as false and misleading allegations, which it stated were "intended to adversely impact the company's share price".

The stock, which fell by 28% on Thursday, was down 6.6% at 59.3 Swiss francs as of 15.42 GMT and was on course for its steepest weekly fall in percentage terms since 2009.

Bank Vontobel said the Hindenburg report had created uncertainty and cut its rating on Temenos shares to "hold" from "buy", noting that it was applying a temporary 25% discount to fair value on the stock until confidence had been restored.

Temenos said it would issue its audited results for 2023 after the market close on Feb. 19 as scheduled and that the results were in line with a pre-results announcement it made on Jan. 19.

(This story has been refiled to remove duplicate words in paragraph 6)

(Reporting by Paolo Laudani; editing by Dave Graham, Jason Neely and David Evans)