In late trading on Wednesday, TFS shares had fallen a heavy 7.4 per cent to $1.31, the lowest level since mid-2016, in active trading.

"We are short sellers. We are biased. So is TFS," it said in a detailed "disclaimer" at the end of its report. "If you are invested (either long or short) in TFS, so are you. Just because we are biased does not mean that we are wrong ... Obviously, we will make money if the price of TFS stock declines."

Short sellers make money by driving share prices lower, so they can then buy back shares they have sold at higher prices, and pocket the difference.

This is the converse of most shareholders who buy shares and hold so they can sell at a higher price.

Similar to other reports by the likes of Jim Chanos when he took on Macquarie Bank in the wake of the global financial crisis, or more recently the bear raids by Gotham Research on Quindell before it sold much of its businesses to Slater and Gordon, which has brought the local firm of lawyer to its knees, the report by Glaucus has a lot of spin interspersed with some facts and a great deal of innuendo as it argues its case against the sandalwood processor.

"We believe that TFS will likely follow Timbercorp and Great Southern into ignominy and failure," the report noted, referring to agricultural managed investment schemes that have collapsed.

"TFS's model resembles such collapsed agricultural [managed investment schemes] companies and their Ponzi-like structure."

Glaucus has not indicated how many shares in TFS it has sold, although it values shares in the sandalwood group at $0.0.

TFS harvests sandalwood from investor-owned plantations and, like most agricultural schemes, the product it harvests takes several years to mature, in its case as long as 15 years.

"The report is a self-serving report by a shorter of the stock in an attempt to drive TFS's share price down for their own financial gain," TFS said in response. . "There are substantial and egregious inaccuracies littered throughout the report which could have been avoided had the report's author contacted the company.

"TFS's plantations and shares are owned by some of the largest and most respected institutional investors in the world, investments they made after undertaking considerable due diligence. TFS also has a strong track record of meeting its financial guidance. The company reaffirms its guidance that FY17 cash [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] will increase by at least 25 per cent on FY16."