Gerresheimer’s New Tech Touts Moisture Protection as Accounting Storms Persist

Gerresheimer unveils LeneX™ UltraGuard® with Milliken but faces deepening probe, stock slide, and loan renegotiation amid accounting irregularities.

Gerresheimer has unveiled a fresh technology partnership on the exhibition floor, but the biggest breakthrough investors are waiting for lies in the company’s audited accounts – a deliverable that remains stubbornly out of reach. The pharma packaging specialist showcased LeneX™ UltraGuard®, an additive technology developed with Milliken, at the Interpack trade fair in Düsseldorf. The system is designed to cut moisture ingress into HDPE pharmaceutical containers by up to 40%, a meaningful improvement for drugmakers grappling with humidity-sensitive active ingredients.

The collaboration builds on an existing relationship between Bormioli Pharma – a Gerresheimer subsidiary – and Milliken, which already delivered a solution for a large global pharma client. While the product news signals operational momentum, the stock tells a different story. Shares closed Friday at €24.92, shedding 8.78% over the week and bringing the year-to-date decline to 10.10%. The relative strength index of 28.1 points to oversold conditions, but the technical picture remains fractured: the price sits comfortably above the 50-day moving average of €21.03 while languishing below the 200-day average of €27.37.

That technical divide mirrors the fundamental schism at the heart of Gerresheimer’s current predicament. On one side, management maintains its 2026 targets of €2.3–€2.4 billion in revenue and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 18–19%. On the other, the accounting scandal refuses to fade. At the centre of the probe are so-called bill-and-hold transactions worth €35 million in revenue, through which the company booked sales before physical delivery occurred. An independent law firm concluded that the practice systematically violated IFRS rules. The impact on adjusted operating profit was put at €24 million.

The investigation is widening. Germany’s financial watchdog BaFin is already examining the case, and now the audit oversight body APAS has launched proceedings against KPMG, the auditor that signed off on the 2024 annual accounts without qualification. The regulator is also scrutinising €65.5 million in incorrectly classified lease liabilities and improperly written-down development costs. In a bid to restore credibility, Gerresheimer has brought in Grant Thornton as a second audit firm to work toward an unqualified opinion on the coming annual report.

Meanwhile, the company is scrambling to shore up its finances. Schuldschein lenders agreed to extend the maturity on €870 million in loans, and key financial covenants have been temporarily suspended. On the operational side, the restructuring is accelerating. Gerresheimer plans to sell its US subsidiary Centor Inc., a maker of packaging systems for prescription drugs, in a process Morgan Stanley is advising. The deal, expected to close this year, could weigh on profitability because Centor is a higher-margin unit. In a related move, the glass plant in Chicago Heights will be shut down, with production shifted to Italy and India. High non-cash impairment charges tied to Sensile Medical projects and the Chicago facility are expected to weigh on 2025 earnings, even though the cash outflow is not proportionate.

The immediate calendar offers a series of deadlines that will test whether the company can turn the page. The audited annual and consolidated financial statements are due in June, followed by the half-year report on 14 July and a quarterly update on 15 October. The annual general meeting, postponed earlier, has yet to be rescheduled. Only once testified numbers land on the table will institutional investors have a solid footing for reassessment. Until then, every new partnership – however technically promising – will struggle to lift a stock that has lost 60% of its value over the past twelve months.