CLARIANT DROPS AFTER INVESTIGATION INTO ACCOUNT MANIPULATION ALLEGATIONS
par Michael Shields
ZURICH (Archyde.com) – Swiss chemical group Clariant fell on the stock market on Monday following it announced that it would postpone the publication of its 2021 results due to an investigation launched following allegations by internal whistleblowers of account manipulation in 2020 and 2021.
In Zurich, Clariant shares plunged 17.8% at 10:15 GMT, posting by far the biggest drop on the STOXX 600, down 2.47% at the same time.
The investigation relates to the accounting of certain charges and provisions and seeks to determine whether employees incorrectly recorded them in order to achieve the company’s internal and external objectives, Clariant said in a statement.
The results published in 2020 and 2021 are questioned but the investigation has not yet established whether the question also applies to accounting periods before 2020, the company said.
“The investigation is not complete but suggests that a limited number of people may have tried to divert profits to improve the group’s performance,” said Peter Steiner, chairman of the board’s audit committee. administration, during a conference call with journalists.
“At this time, there is no indication that anyone has made any personal profit from this affair,” he said, adding that there was no involvement of the former management of the group either.
Clariant suspended employees but did not take the case to court, he added.
The company brought in auditing firm Deloitte and law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to investigate.
Peter Steiner said whistleblowers came forward on September 10. As the investigation is still ongoing, the financial auditor PwC might not approve the annual results, which were due for publication on Wednesday.
The board of directors therefore decided on Sunday to postpone the publication of the results and the ordinary general meeting.
“Today’s announcement is a negative surprise that hopefully will not destroy the reputation that Clariant’s new management has begun to establish among investors and analysts,” observe analysts at Baader Helvea Equity Research. .
Clariant said it expects to meet the target announced in October of an EBITDA margin of between 16% and 17% for 2021, as its sales increased by 15% excluding currency effects to reach 4.37 billion Swiss francs ( 4.18 billion euros) according to preliminary data.
(Report Michael Shields and Oliver Hirt; French version Valentine Baldassari, edited by Blandine Hénault)
