Corporate Travel Management boss Jamie Pherous faces a new threat from hedge fund manager

A high-flying Brisbane travel firm faces a fresh threat from a Sydney hedge fund manager.

BIGSHOTS dig posh Noosa dining spot Ricky’s and, with our gorgeous winter weather, it’s no surprise the riverfront hub was packed at the weekend.

Spied relaxing over a long lunch for a party of six was none other than Corporate Travel Management boss Jamie Pherousand former Brisbane publican Rohan Topley, who just emerged from personal bankruptcy in April.

Topley, you’ll recall, went bust over a $4.2 million debt in 2014 related to his now-defunct Dragonfly nightclub at the same time that his Fox Hotel Group also fell in a heap. He was fined $1000 the following year for leaving the country without his trustee’s permission and failing to file a statement of affairs in a timely manner.

Corporate Travel Management CEO Jamie Pherous.

Anyway, we hope Pherous enjoyed tucking into his plate of roasted Mooloolaba king prawns because it looks like he might have a new thorn in his side in the form of well-regarded Sydney hedge fund manager John Hempton, a bloke who counts Malcolm Turnbull among his clients.

The Bronte Capital boss revealed last week in a Twitter exchange with a CTM backer that he has shorted the stock — essentially betting the price will fall.

As he put it bluntly, “the stock is absurd’’ and this is a bloke who previously proved astute in identifying problems at Valeant Pharmaceuticals and other companies.

Hempton’s move follows last October’s bombshell report from VGI Partners, which alleged accounting irregularities and other issues at CTM after it too shorted the stock.

Indeed, Hempton referred to the report and said VGI had done “a good job of that one’’.

John Hempton counts former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull among his clients.

CTM vigorously denied the VGI allegations but the shares copped quite a battering afterwards, much to the chagrin of clients of Morgans, who underwrote the 2010 float and have remained bullish on the company’s prospects.

Although CTM shares rallied in February, they have lost 22 per cent of their value since the VGI report landed, underperforming the ASX200 by a whopping 43 per cent.

Meanwhile, it’s understood VGI has continued to boost its short position.

BEAUTIFUL DAY

Developer Mike Gould has made quite a splash in his new role as president of the Brisbane Club.

Members attending the annual “President’s At Home CELLARbration’’ dinner are usually treated to traditional, if rather staid, entertainment such as opera singers.

Bono of the Irish rock band U2 )

Gould dramatically shook things up on Friday night when he called in U2 cover band “With Or Without U2’’ to rock the black-tie crowd before the main course was even served.

The result? Plenty of people out of their chairs and dancing, arms raised skywards.

Not a sight usually seen at the club so we can only assume Gould found what he was looking for!

Months of planning went into VGI Partners’ ambush of Corporate Travel Management