Grifols presents its results without verification and without the signature of one of its directors

This Thursday, Grifols presented its financial statements for 2023 without the audit of KPMG and the signature of Jaime Costos, the current member of the board of directors. The company says Kostos did not sign the annual accounts because he was absent “for personal reasons” from a board meeting held yesterday in Barcelona. Thus, the company presented its results in the midst of controversy caused by reports from bearish Gotham Research, which questioned both the management and the company’s results. The company was down 10% on the stock market at 2 p.m.

Regarding the lack of an audit, the blood products company assured that “it has received written confirmation from KPMG that it expects to complete its internal procedures and issue an audit report by March 8, 2024, ahead of the deadline required by current Spanish law.”

Grifols made a profit of €59.3 million in 2023, representing a decline of 71.5% compared to the €208.3 million profit recorded the previous year, while recording a record revenue of €6.592 million, which 8.7% more.

The company noted that Kostos did not express “any disagreement or disagreement with the documentation sent,” as stated in the company’s annual report sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) and signed by the CEO and others. from the council members.

“You are responsible for ensuring that, to the best of your knowledge, the condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the year from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023, prepared in accordance with applicable accounting principles, give a true and fair view of the assets, financial position and the results of operations of the company and the companies included in the consolidation as a whole, and that the consolidated interim management report includes a reliable analysis of the required information,” the company said in its annual report.

“The condensed interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with IFRS and have been approved by the board of directors of Grifols,” the company said.

The Grifols family leaves management

These were the latest results of the blood products company with the Grifols family, in particular Raymond Grifols, Victor Grifols Deu and Albert Grifols Coma-Cross holding senior positions on the board of directors, in the context of the company’s crisis. after the latest offensive launched by Gotham City Research questioning its reporting and its sustainability.

Notably, the company, which announced changes to its management earlier this month, appointed Nacho Abia as CEO effective April 1 and retained Thomas Glanzman as executive president, while Raymond Grifols, Victor Grifols Deu and Albert Grifols Coma-Cro remain in-house directors.

Thus, three family members ended their executive activities in the Catalan company, leaving their roles as corporate director, operating director and executive director respectively.

Gotham City Research bearish fund attacked Grifols for a second time on Feb. 20, this time asking a battery of seven questions related to the nature of the relationship between the company and the Scranton family office associated with the Grifols family.

Given the changes in the management of Grifols, Gotham noted that its previous complaints, published on January 9, were the reason for changes in corporate governance that led to the separation of family members from the management of the company.