The German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has announced an audit of BayWa AG’s 2023 annual report, citing specific evidence of possible accounting misstatements. For the first nine months of this year, BayWa data shows revenues of €16 billion ($16.9 billion) and a loss of €77.6 million in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT).
German financial regulator BaFin is auditing Baywa AG’s 2023 financial report due to indications of possible accounting problems. BaFin reportedly wants to assess the accuracy of BayWa’s risk and financial disclosures.
BayWa has released updated figures for the first three quarters of 2024, with revenues of €16 billion and an EBIT loss of €77.6 million, rising to €299.8 million including impairments, mainly in the field of renewable energy . In 2023, BayWa reported a turnover of €18 billion and a positive EBIT of €214.6 million.
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However, overcapacity and price declines in the PV market led to high inventory depreciation and revenue challenges in the energy trade. Delays and reduced revenues from energy projects contributed to the losses, with BayWa re’s renewable energy sales falling from €4.3 billion to €2.9 billion and a drastic drop in EBIT from €105.8 million to a loss of €164.8 million.
For BayWa’s energy sector, sales fell slightly from €2 billion to €1.9 billion, with EBIT falling from €13.5 million to €4.5 million due to weakened demand for new heating systems due to the uncertainty about German energy policy.
Sales in the energy segment fell year after year from €2 billion to €1.9 billion. EBIT fell from €13.5 million to €4.5 million and, taking into account impairments, fell further into the red at -€0.2 million.
“The reason for the decline in operating results was the continued uncertainty surrounding the German Building Energy Act and the resulting reduced willingness to invest in new heating systems such as heat pumps and pellet heating systems,” the company said.
Baywa plans to publish a final restructuring report this year. The first draft, prepared by Boston Consulting Group in October, highlighted positive future prospects if specific restructuring measures are implemented.
“The core of the planned measures is a stronger focus on the business areas that have a positive market forecast and in which Baywa re already has a good competitive position,” the company said.
The strategic goal is to create a focused project developer for solar, wind and battery storage solutions, while continuing operations as an independent energy producer (IPP).
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