Betting against First Republic, short sellers made $848 million in March – Ortex

(Reuters) – Short sellers made a whopping $848 million in paper profit by betting against beleaguered First Republic Bank in March, financial data company Ortex said on Tuesday, making it the most profitable short trade last month.

The lender’s shares slumped 88.6% in March, its worst monthly performance, as the U.S. banking crisis fueled fears that the San Francisco-based bank could also fall prey to the issues that hit Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

Silvergate Capital Corp wound down operations on March 8 and days later Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were seized by regulators amid liquidity crises, denting investor confidence in the U.S. banking sector.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)