Gerresheimer’s Accounting Crisis Deepens as BaFin Widens Probe

The stock has clawed back 46 percent from its February nadir, but the underlying picture at Gerresheimer remains fraught with risk. Trading at €22.70, the shares are still down nearly 58 percent year-on-year, and the semblance of a recovery masks a tangle of unresolved regulatory, financial, and operational challenges.

Germany’s financial watchdog, BaFin, has broadened its investigation and identified three specific areas where it suspects accounting rules have been breached. The regulator’s focus falls on incorrectly reported lease liabilities, errors in the useful-life assumptions applied to capitalised development costs, and an impairment shortfall in the Advanced Technologies segment — where the carrying value stands at almost €197 million. No timeline has been set for the conclusion of the probe, though because BaFin made the examination public, it is obliged to publish its findings whenever they are ready.

At the heart of the accounting trouble is a lease-related misstatement of roughly €65.5 million, which employees are alleged to have booked in contravention of IFRS standards. That error has delayed the audited annual report for 2025, now expected by the end of September 2026. The absence of certified financials has kept institutional investors on the sidelines and raised the spectre of expulsion from the SDAX index.

Creditors have thrown the company a lifeline. Holders of Schuldschein loans voted 96 percent in favour of extending covenants until the autumn, while bank partners have also suspended key leverage conditions through the third quarter. That breathing room buys time, but it does not resolve the fundamental uncertainty.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Gerresheimer?

Management is pursuing a twin-track strategy to shore up the balance sheet. The sale of US subsidiary Centor Inc., advised by Morgan Stanley, has drawn a double-digit number of interested parties, and the transaction is expected to close before the end of 2026. Separately, a glass factory in Chicago will be shut down by year-end. One potential exit route has already been blocked: US group Silgan recently offered €41 per share — more than double the prevailing market price — but Gerresheimer rebuffed the approach, and no talks are ongoing.

The operational environment is adding to the pressure. As an energy-intensive manufacturer of glass packaging, Gerresheimer is acutely exposed to rising power costs, which climbed sharply in March and are squeezing margins that were already under strain.

Despite the headwinds, the board has reaffirmed its 2026 guidance. Revenue is forecast at €2.3 billion to €2.4 billion, with an adjusted operating margin of 18 to 19 percent — though both targets are explicitly contingent on a successful conclusion to bank negotiations and no further material corrections from BaFin. Neither condition can be taken for granted.

The next hard deadline falls on 14 July 2026, when the half-year report is due — assuming the audited annual accounts are published in June as promised and provide a reliable baseline. That the annual general meeting date for 2026 has yet to be set underscores just how extraordinary the situation has become for the Düsseldorf-based group.