The manufacturer of blood products Grifols soared by 20.28% on the stock market yesterday, to 8.34 euros, after presenting to the CNMV the audit of its accounts for 2023, which KPMG endorses without exception. The stock market recovery was also boosted by the purchase of shares worth 1.2 million euros by the managers; due to the entry into its capital of Melqart Opportunities, with 1.124%, a fund specialized in taking positions in companies that are candidates for a takeover bid, and due to the massive closing of the "shorts", the investors who sell the share on credit, trapped for the rise and forced to buy back the shares to stop their losses.
The lack of the audit had triggered a selling panic in the stock market in recent days, which had plunged the share price to lows of 2011 and was also one of the reasons alleged on Tuesday by the rating agency of Moody's risks to place the rating of Grifols under review for downgrade.
The KPMG report clarifies the doubts about the financial health of the company, and above all, about the possible irregular financing of companies linked to the founding family, on which the attacks of the bearish fund Gotham City Research have focused.
The auditor, in the report, only draws attention to the group's goodwill, which amounts to 6,802 million euros, 2,679 of which correspond to its diagnostic unit. Goodwill comes from acquisitions made by the company, which when they include patents or contracts or businesses with high growth expectations are paid at prices that exceed the book value of the assets, but the expectations might not materialize. The KPMG report also highlights the sale of 20% of Shanghai Raas to Haier, for 1.6 billion euros, which it warns includes future commitments with the buyer.
KPMG also introduces a paragraph of emphasis, in which it warns of the investigation opened by the CNMV on the company in relation to the accusations launched by Gotham City Research, but notes that "our opinion has not been modified with regard to this matter ".
The communication sent by Grifols to the CNMV indicates that the group has included in the accounts the alliance of companies established with ImmunoTek, with which it plans to build a network of twenty-one plasma centers in the United States. This slightly modifies the semi-annual accounts that the company presented last week: it raises the cash flow by 4 million euros and its debt by 150 million, but also its assets by 115 million. The agreement with ImmunoTek was in the spotlight of investors since, in the presentation of results, the company assured that it had committed an investment of 415 million euros in the construction of these centers by 2024.
Grifols chairman Thomas Glanzmann had already announced last week that the group had a written commitment from KPMG to approve the accounts as drawn up and without exceptions, and that only administrative difficulties had prevented the firm from completing the job on February 29, when the pharmaceutical group had to present the results. The nervousness of the markets, however, did not lend credence to his words.
KPMG has been Grifols' auditor since 1990, and will cease to be so from next year, when Deloitte will take over in compliance with the Audit law, which since 2016 required listed companies to change auditors every ten years. KPMG is one of the big four, the four largest auditing companies in the world. Headquartered in the Netherlands, it is present in 143 countries.
The accounts of Grifols indicate that the multinational won 59 million euros last year, 71% less than the previous year, due to the impact of the costs of its restructuring, which reached 147 million euros . The group achieved record revenues of 6,592 million euros, a figure that exceeded 2022 revenues by 11%, with a recovery in profitability, which brought operating profit or ebitda to 1,474 million, 22.4 % of sales. The company announced that this year it expects profitability to recover additionally, up to 1.8 billion euros.
Grifols also sent the report on corporate governance and remuneration of managers to the CNMV on Thursday night. Thus, the report explains, the president, Thomas Glanzmann, and the two CEOs, Raimon and Víctor Grífols, jointly received 5.36 million euros last year, for their executive tasks and board positions. Glanzmann was paid 1.92 million and the other two managers 1.7 million each. The company also paid 5 million euros to Steven F. Mayer, executive chairman until February, when he resigned due to "health problems" due to "the termination of his contractual relationship."
