Société BIC SA has moved into a new phase of this borrow story: cost to borrow is no longer just spiking — it is holding at the elevated level, and the short score has notched a fresh high of 61.6, the strongest reading since this sequence began in late May.
The lending market is where this week's developments are most legible. Cost to borrow closed June 2 at 6.2%, essentially unchanged from the seven-fold spike reported in the previous note — confirmation that this is not a one-day blip being quickly unwound. For context, borrow cost spent all of April and early May between 0.7% and 0.9%. The re-pricing is now twelve days old and showing no signs of mean-reverting. Availability has tightened to 271%, down from 294% at the week's open. That is still well clear of the 52-week floor of 204% touched on May 26, but the directional drift remains adverse. The lending pool is not squeezed — plenty of shares can still be borrowed relative to the existing short position — but the cost of doing so has repriced structurally.
The short score tells a consistent and escalating story. Each session this week has added incrementally: 57.6 on May 27, 58.2 on May 28, through 59.9 on June 1, and 61.6 on June 2. The score is now more than fifteen points above the sub-46 baseline it maintained for the two weeks prior to the late-May dislocation. What matters is not just the level but the persistence — the score has not faded back on any single session, which distinguishes this from a temporary re-rating. Short interest itself remains modest at around 3.2% of free float, unchanged from prior notes. The demand story is in the lending market and the short score, not in a crowded short position.
The broader setup offers some offsetting context. Ownership is stable and heavily concentrated — Société MBD and the Bich family together control roughly 46% of shares, leaving a limited free float and giving the founding structure an effective anchor. Amundi added around 959,000 shares as of late March, and Brandes holds just over 7% with a minimal recent change. None of the major institutional holders appear to be reducing materially. The stock trades at a PE of 11.6x and EV/EBITDA of 5.3x — both of which have compressed over the past week as the price has pulled back 5% to €55. The dividend score ranks in the 82nd percentile, though dividend history data is stale and should not be used as a current reference. Analyst data is also dated — the most recent consensus target of €57.55 carries a 30-day lag with no new changes filed — so the small implied upside should be treated as directional colour only.
Price has now lost ground consistently for a month, down roughly 6% over 30 days. The stock is not far from the levels where a director bought 1,000 shares in February at €54.19, and an independent director picked up 500 shares in January at €54.70. Neither trade was large, but both came near current prices and at higher borrow cost than the April-May baseline — a data point worth noting rather than overweighting. Q2 results are scheduled for July 29, and with the short score climbing steadily and borrow costs holding at multi-month highs, the interval between now and that print is the period worth monitoring most closely.
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