2cd complaint to ASIC

The false, misleading and in my opinion criminal reporting in the AFR continues so on Monday I made a second complaint to the ASIC as follows.

“Further to my complaint last Friday ref no 97362647, I see the Australian Financial Review (AFR) is today at it again.

This time Joe Aston in Rear Window column has added more misleading and deceptive comments about Estia Health (Estia or the Company). He first raises the question why did Estia share price fall more than 10% last week. The answer is in my view because of market manipulation facilitated by the AFR as outlined in my complaint on Friday.

The disparaging and ridiculing tone of the article is distasteful and the false facts are as follows.

1. Joe Aston acknowledged he was wrong in earlier stating Estia’s debt was $311.2 million when it was in fact $254.7 million. He dismisses this error without an apology saying it is a technicality. But surely a difference of $ $56.5 million is seriously false reporting.

1. Joe Aston has compounded his false Company debt reporting by saying Estia debt is now $18 million from its $330 million debt ceiling i.e. $312 million. Estia today announced to the market (the Announcement)  its net debt at 30th November was $265.6 million after paying the November dividend. This time Joe Aston is out by $46.4 million. He is seriously failing in his journalistic role by not checkng figures supplied to him.

1. Joe Aston states readers are dreaming if we think the Company has set aside 5% of Refundable Accommodation Deposits (RAD’s). Yet in the Announcement Estia confirms it has set aside 5% of RAD’s as a voluntary prudential measure. Mr Aston is showing he is making stuff up.

1. Joe Aston states there is little doubt Estia will have a $100 million capital raising. Joe Aston must know speculation about a rights issue will depress the share price. Presumably that is his intention. The Rear Window column made the same claim concerning a rights issue about 3 weeks ago. Then it was claimed Estia would announce a rights issue at the AGM on 23rd November. It was wrong. At the AGM the CEO said Estia remains comfortably within its debt covenant with significant headroom. It has a net leverage of 2.1 comfortably within its limit of 3.5. This positive debt statements at the AGM makes a rights issue unlikely so the question must be asked why is Joe Aston flogging this dead horse.

Please investigate and stop this reporting of fake news”.