The Gerresheimer share has clawed back roughly 50 percent from its February trough to trade at €23.44, but the pharma packaging group’s return to calm is largely an illusion. Behind the recent price action, the company remains entangled in an accounting scandal that has drawn BaFin probes, a shareholder lawsuit, and a record short-selling assault.
BaFin Probes and a Broken Balance Sheet
The crisis erupted over improperly booked bill-and-hold arrangements, where Gerresheimer invoiced customers for goods but delayed delivery. A law firm confirmed systematic violations of IFRS rules, forcing a €35 million downward revision to 2024 revenue and a €24 million hit to adjusted operating profit.
Germany’s financial regulator has opened two separate investigations. One examines potentially misstated leasing liabilities of €65.5 million, while the other looks at development costs that were capitalized in the double-digit millions. The role of auditor KPMG has also come under scrutiny—the firm took over from Deloitte in 2024 and issued an unqualified opinion on the flawed accounts shortly afterward.
Management has warned of impairment charges of up to €240 million. Because the audited annual report was never filed, the stock was ejected from the SDAX in April, replaced by Bulgaria’s Shelly Group.
Creditors Grant a Lifeline, but the Clock Is Ticking
In mid-April, Gerresheimer secured a critical reprieve. A large majority of creditors agreed to extend the maturity on €870 million in promissory notes to September 2026. Banks are also temporarily waiving key leverage covenants through the fourth quarter.
The market welcomed the breathing room—the stock jumped nearly 12 percent in a week and crossed its 100-day moving average. Yet the share price remains a shadow of its 52-week high above €64.
The true deadline is June 2026, when Gerresheimer must produce an audited 2025 annual report. That document is the non-negotiable foundation for any final extension of bank credit. If management misses the mark, its negotiating leverage with lenders will evaporate.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Gerresheimer?
Shareholders Prepare for Battle
While creditors have shown patience, shareholders are mobilizing. The DSW shareholder protection association is examining damages claims against former CEO Dietmar Siemssen, former CFO Bernd Metzner, and the supervisory board. A legal opinion is probing potential misconduct related to goodwill valuations in the hundreds of millions. DSW managing director Marc Tüngler has already approached external litigation funders to back the case.
Institutional investors are split. The CastleKnight Master Fund and Deka Investment have used the depressed share price to build positions. On the other side, short sellers have piled in—open short interest has surged past 11 percent, an extraordinary level for a German mid-cap stock.
A Fire Sale to Fund the Recovery
To shore up its finances, Gerresheimer is pushing ahead with the sale of its US drug packaging subsidiary Centor. Morgan Stanley has been mandated to find a buyer, and the deal is expected to close this year. Centor is carried on the books at €292 million and generates above-average margins, meaning its disposal will bring in cash but permanently weaken the group’s earnings power.
A glass plant in Chicago is being shut down entirely.
No Reliable Forecasts Until Mid-2026
The regular reporting cycle remains suspended. Management is sticking to its 2026 targets of up to €2.4 billion in revenue and an adjusted operating margin of around 18 percent, but those projections are explicitly conditional on a favorable BaFin outcome. The first half of the year is expected to be weak.
The next concrete milestone for the capital markets is the half-year report, due on July 14, 2026. Until then, the share price will be driven by the progress of the BaFin probes, the outcome of the DSW lawsuit, and the success of the Centor sale. Gerresheimer is not out of the woods—it has simply bought itself time to find a way through.
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