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10,000% Gain for Options Traders as Zurich Airport Stock Drops

10,000% Gain for Options Traders as Zurich Airport Stock Drops

(Bloomberg) -- Options traders who bet against Zurich airport have booked a 10,000 percent windfall as proposed modifications to aviation charges send shares of the hub tumbling.

Flughafen Zurich AG, as the airport company is known, dropped the most since 2003 after saying measures unveiled by the national regulator would reduce its aviation revenue by 150 million Swiss francs ($148 million) or 25 percent.

The options had low values before Monday, reflecting the fact that they were close to expiring, in which case they’d have been worthless in just a few days. Their value was multiplied almost 100-fold, handing their owners surprise gains. On the flip side, some call options that follow the share price lost as much as 94 percent in a day.

The airport, whose stock was priced 13 percent lower at 174.20 francs as of 12:42 p.m. local time, said it will contest the new charging policy, which it called “incomprehensible.” measures.

--With assistance from Jan-Patrick Barnert.

To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Weiss in Frankfurt at rweiss5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.