Joice Alves

LONDON (Reuters – THG shares rose 5.7% Monday, after Matt Moulding, chief executive of the online platform, said he regretted flopping the company. The speculation fuelled by the sharp fall in the stock price and increased concern that the technology company may be delisted.

The Times quoted a Moulding interview at The GQ Heroes Conference, in which he said that he wishes he’d floated his company in New York. The listing in London “has just sucked” from start to end.

According to Moulding, “We have other options,” the newspaper reported.

He also likened short sellers to bank thieves, and said THG shares were the victims of a “pretty violent short attack”.

THG shares have dropped 70% since their London listing last year. The Manchester-based firm, formerly known as The Hut Group has beauty retailer Lookfantastic, and supplement company Myprotein.

BlackRock Inc (NYSE : ) was the 2nd largest shareholder in THG and sold close to half of its stake at 10% last week.

THG’s share price plunged 35% after its investor presentation, in which it focused on Ingenuity (its technology platform that sells ecommerce software), was poorly received.

THG announced changes to its board, and released growth figures for Ingenuity’s technology unit to try to reassure investors.