updates

** Shares of civil infrastructure company Construction Partners ROAD.O down 10.5% at ~$83 in afternoon trading after Spruce Point Capital reveals a short position

** Spruce Point says ROAD's share price could have a 35% to 50% potential long-term downside and a risk of market underperformance

** Believes ROAD's business is under greater pressure than is widely understood

** Spruce Point finds that the company has been falling short of its organic growth projections

** Adds, ROAD's contract mix is getting worse while also taking longer to complete on average, which could indicate that it is stuck with underperforming jobs

** ROAD "strongly refutes" the assertions in the report

** "It is clear that the short-seller made numerous false statements and is deliberately attempting to mislead the market" - ROAD

** ROAD is set to report Q1 results on Feb. 7

** Stock gained 103.3% in 2024

(Reporting by Sanchayaita Roy and Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru)

((Sanchayaita.roy@thomsonreuters.com))