FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - An agreement between Gerresheimer and its lenders to extend the deadline for the audited 2025 annual and consolidated financial statements sent shares of the specialty packaging manufacturer on a steep recovery path on Thursday. The stock easily cleared the 20 euro mark and briefly touched 21 euro. By the afternoon, it had gained 17.7 percent to reach 20.84 euro, returning to levels last seen at the end of March.
Jefferies analyst James Vane-Tempest pointed not only to the agreement with lenders but also to the progressing sale of the US subsidiary Centor, which could be finalized before the end of the year. "Interest is high, with a double-digit number of interested parties," he wrote. Furthermore, management reaffirmed that performance for the 2026 fiscal year remains in line with expectations and that order levels are solid.
Bernstein expert Delphine Le Louet described the news as a "minor relief," noting that "the current management's decisions are correct and provide creditors with a degree of transparency that could prevent insolvency."
Concerns surrounding Gerresheimer remain significant, as accounting irregularities have shaken the company for some time. After the 2025 annual report was postponed again in March - now scheduled for publication in June - the stock was expelled from the SDax small-cap index last week. It had already been demoted to the SDax from the mid-cap MDax in December.
Under the leadership of CEO Uwe Röhrhoff, who took office in November, the first postponement of the annual financial statements was announced in February. Additionally, a second auditing firm was commissioned to resolve the accounting issues.
The group came under the scrutiny of the German financial regulator BaFin in the fall of 2025. However, it had struggled to escape negative headlines even before then. After climbing to a record high of just under 123 euro in 2023, the share price has been in a steady decline.
In the fall of 2024, a severe profit warning for both 2024 and 2025 triggered a sell-off, followed by another warning in June 2025. Analysts criticized the company's lack of transparency and raised doubts about the credibility of management under former CEO Dietmar Siemssen.
Further concerns emerged in late 2024 regarding Gerresheimer's key customer, Novo Nordisk. Twelve months ago, takeover speculation, which had briefly supported the stock, finally evaporated.
For Bernstein analyst Le Louet, the situation is clear: Gerresheimer's troubles primarily stemmed from the acquisition of Bormioli in May 2024. This move "transformed the corporate narrative from an equity story into a bond story." This shift was accompanied by a massive deterioration in profitability and a lack of transparency regarding underlying business performance, eventually leading to the accounting and governance issues investigated by BaFin and a complete overhaul of the management team. "The only remaining piece of this alarming puzzle could still be potential accounting fraud," she concluded, maintaining her "Underweight" rating./ck/ajx/he
