: Icahn Enterprises’ stock slides 28% premarket after company halves quarterly distribution to $1 per unit

Icahn Enterprises L.P.’s stock IEP tumbled 28% in premarket trade Friday, after the company said it’s cuttings its quarterly distribution to $1 from $2 previously. The company made the announcement as it reported a surprise quarterly loss and revenue that lagged consensus estimates. “I believe the second quarter partially reflected the impact of short-selling on companies we control or invest in, which I attribute to the misleading and self-serving Hindenburg report concerning our company,” Chairman Carl Icahn said in a statement. “It also reflected the size of the hedge book relative to our activist strategy.” Icahn was referring to a report by short seller Hindenburg Research published in May that accused IEP, Icahn’s investing arm, of overstating asset values and that revealed that Icahn himself had borrowed from the company. That had been disclosed in a footnote to financials that Wall Street had overlooked. The report shaved billions off IEP’s market cap and was firmly rebutted by Icahn, who recently said he has entered a three-year loan agreement with his personal lenders that will close out his borrowings. Icahn said IEP has paid out distributions for 73 continuous quarters and does not intend for a “misleading” report to interfere with that practice. “The payment of future distributions will be determined by the board of directors quarterly, based upon current economic conditions and business performance and other factors that it deems relevant at the time that declaration of a distribution is considered,” said Icahn. IEP’s stock is down 35% in the year to date.

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