Gerresheimer's Accounting Crisis Entangles Auditor KPMG in Regulatory Probe

Gerresheimer faces APAS probe of KPMG audit, SDAX expulsion, and a 70% stock crash amid a 35M euro accounting scandal and urgent liquidity negotiations.

The financial reporting scandal at German pharmaceutical packaging group Gerresheimer has ensnared its auditor, KPMG, in a professional misconduct investigation. The Auditor Oversight Body (APAS) has launched proceedings against the firm for issuing an unqualified audit opinion on the company's flawed 2024 financial statements. This regulatory action compounds a multi-front crisis for the Düsseldorf-based firm, which is simultaneously battling to retain credit lines and manage the fallout from its expulsion from a key stock index.

At the heart of the accounting irregularities are systematic breaches of IFRS rules related to "bill-and-hold" agreements, where revenue was recognized for goods that had not yet been shipped. The scale of these misstatements is significant, amounting to 35 million euros in revenue and 24 million euros in adjusted EBITDA for 2024. The situation is particularly awkward for KPMG, which had only recently taken over the audit mandate from Deloitte. A second firm, Grant Thornton, is now conducting a forensic review of the books for both 2024 and 2025.

Index Expulsion and Investor Flight

The company's failure to submit audited annual reports by the end of March triggered its formal removal from the SDAX small-cap index on April 10, 2026. Bulgarian firm Shelly Group has replaced it. This exclusion forces index-tracking institutional investors to sell their holdings, adding technical selling pressure to a stock already in freefall. Gerresheimer shares have plummeted roughly 38% since the start of the year and trade nearly 73% below their 52-week high. Over a twelve-month period, the loss exceeds 70%, with the stock currently priced at 17.22 euros.

In response to the massive depreciation, the German shareholder association DSW is preparing a legal assessment. The review aims to determine the viability of damage claims against former CEO Dietmar Siemssen, former CFO Bernd Metzner, and the company's audit committee.

A Race for Liquidity and a Pivotal June

The absence of certified financials has paralyzed Gerresheimer's reporting calendar and pushed it into technical default on its loan covenants. Management is engaged in intense negotiations with lenders to secure deadline extensions and prevent a cancellation of credit facilities. Operationally, the company is scrambling to shore up its balance sheet. It has put its US subsidiary Centor Inc. up for sale, an asset valued at 292 million euros at the end of 2024. Further measures include announced plant closures in the United States.

The company also faces substantial non-cash impairments of up to 240 million euros, primarily linked to technology projects at its Sensile Medical unit and the planned US factory shutdown. Audited figures are not expected before June, which also delays the originally scheduled Annual General Meeting and first-quarter results for 2026. The next fixed reporting date is now the half-year report on July 14.

This makes June 2026 a critical milestone. By then, management must present the delayed 2025 annual accounts and likely report on the outcome of its banking negotiations. Only after these legal and financial hurdles are cleared can the company's confirmed revenue forecast of up to 2.4 billion euros regain any credibility. Until then, uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on the embattled packaging specialist.