MADRID, 9 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ibex 15 lost almost 170 points towards the middle of the session, reaching 10,040.7 points, in a day in which Grifols’ steep decline stands out after a report from the bearish Gotham City Research that casts doubt on its accounts and questions its sustainability.
Specifically, the analysis firm, known in Spain for having uncovered the Gowex fraud almost a decade ago, has accused Grifols of manipulating its debt ratios and gross operating profit (Ebitda) to artificially reduce leverage and warns that his shares would be “non-investable”, in his opinion.
In its analysis, the bearish firm emphasizes the relationship between Grifols and Scranton Enterprises, an investment vehicle of the Grifols family, pointing out that Grifols fully consolidates both Haema and BPC Plasma, despite owning 0% of each company, while Scranton Enterprises also fully consolidates both companies, as does Grifols.
For its part, Grifols has issued a statement in which it “categorically” denies any accusation of accounting practices or “erroneous” information in its consolidated financial statements.
At the same time, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has assured that it is analyzing the report published by Gotham and has indicated that it is also in contact with the company.
Although at the opening, after an hour and a half in the volatility auction, Grifols recorded a drop of 42%, by mid-session it had softened that decline to 27.35%. Behind were CaixaBank (-3.10%), Iberdrola (-2.75%, due to the ex-dividend effect), Colonial (-2.61%), Repsol (-2.49%, also affected by the ex-dividend effect), BBVA (-2.46%), Acciona Energía (-2.41%), and Banco Sabadell (-1.94%).
On the other hand, only four Ibex values saw increases in their price in the mid-session: Aena (1.64%), Enagás (0.95%), Amadeus (0.35%) and Ferrovial (0.03%). .
Outside the business sphere, investors learned this Tuesday that the eurozone unemployment rate stood at 6.4% last November, one tenth less than in October and the lowest in the entire historical series, despite the growing alerts about the risk of recession in the final stretch of 2023, while in the European Union as a whole it also marked a new minimum of 5.9%, dropping one tenth compared to the previous month, according to data published by Eurostat.
Declines were also observed in the rest of the main European stock exchanges with the exception of London, which advanced 0.05%. Paris fell 0.21%; Frankfurt, 0.22%; and Milan, 0.25%.
In the raw materials market, a barrel of Brent advanced by 1.79%, to $77.47, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), by 1.85%, to $72.08.
In the debt market, the yield on the Spanish bond with a 10-year maturity rose to 3.166%, from the 3.117% observed at the close of Monday. Thus, the risk premium against German debt reached 97.7 basis points, four tenths less.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro depreciated 0.17% against the dollar, reaching an exchange rate of 1.0932 ‘greenbacks’ for each unit of the community currency.
