VIPsight - August 2013
COMPANIES
Special audit at ThyssenKrupp
After claims from ThyssenKrupp’s shareholder representatives, the loss of billions due to the new steel work in America as well as the numerous cartel and corruption cases will be reviewed within a special audit by experts. On July 24th, the industrial group confirmed such a notification of the German Society for the Protection of Securities Holders (DSW). A closer look will be taken at the internal monitoring system against the breach of laws and the controlling system for major investors. Not only the DSW but also Christian Strenger demanded such an investigation during the annual general Meeting in January. The process is considered a novelty in the German history. Never before has a special audit like this been voluntarily accepted by a big, listed group in Germany. The auditing company BDO and professor Hans-Joachim Böcking from Frankfurt will carry out the special audit. The report will be presented during the next annual general meeting.
SMA Solar: Staff cuts to combat losses
SMA Solar AG, the TecDax-listed manufacturer of inverters, is set to cut some 800 jobs by the end of 2013. According to the company, this should generate savings in costs and boost recovery. SMA Solar AG, whose headquarters are in Hesse, posted a loss in the first quarter of 2013 as a result of the price squeeze that affected the solar panel market. The company also reported a 50% drop in sales compared to the same period in 2012, but is optimistic that the measures now under-way will strengthen its chances of weathering the storm.
Evotec: New research partnership
Evotec AG, the biotech company, has teamed up with Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany’s second largest pharmaceutical company. The agreement provides for a 1.5 million euro transfer from Boehringer to Tec-Dax listed Evotech, and envisages sharing research into pain-therapy substances which have just now entered the preclinical phase. Boehringer Ingelheim and Evotec have been conducting joint research into active substances since 2004.
Hess: Former directors held in temporary custody
Following the bankruptcy plea of lighting manufacturer Hess AG in February, two former board members were held on allegations of fraud surrounding the company’s stock-market launch in 2012. They have since been released. The former board chairman, Christoph Hess, member of the family who founded the company, and former financial affairs director Peter Ziegler stand accused of fraud and embezzlement causing liable damage amounting to some 10 million euros according to the court.
Another 17 individuals are under investigation by the magistrates for fraudulent accounting, and have had their homes searched.
The company based in the Black Forest was first listed in 2012, and a mere four months after inclusion in the prime standards, it made allegations that the 2011 year-end accounts had been falsified. The company’s board of surveillance sacked Christoph Hess and Peter Ziegler paving the way for the magistrate to pursue investigations into capital investment fraud.