“Much criminal energy”
Alleged metal theft at Aurubis causes share to collapse
09/01/2023, 12:38 p.m
Due to ongoing problems at Aurubis, investors are fleeing. The copper manufacturer assumes that it has become a victim of metal theft again and is cutting its profit forecast. About damage and background is still puzzling. Salzgitter’s share price is also coming under pressure.
The shares of the Hamburg copper manufacturer Aurubis rushed after the latest reports about possible further thefts in the metal stocks in the basement. At the top, the papers of the MDAX company collapsed almost 18 percent, as strong as they were almost eight years ago. One market participant described what was happening at the company as “terrifying”; in addition to the material damage, it was a massive loss of confidence. The management seems to be slowly realizing the scope of the development.
Aurubis reported for the first time in June that it had become a victim of criminal activities, but was unable to say anything about the extent of the damage at that time. Just a month ago, Aurubis confirmed its outlook. Now the company was apparently forced to collect the forecast.
Suppliers and employees under suspicion
There are “strong indications of a shortage of metals,” the company said on Thursday evening. When checking the metal inventory, there are also said to have been large deviations “in special samples of certain deliveries of input materials in the recycling area”. Aurubis currently assumes that samples of the recycling material supplied have been manipulated. The values of the metals such as copper, gold and silver determined during the analysis of the material were set too high, the company said.
As a result, suppliers were paid too much money. The suspicion is directed against scrap suppliers and their own employees. Based on the evidence, it can be assumed “that the company has become the subject of further criminal acts – going beyond the cases published in June 2023”. An inventory should now bring clarity about the damage. Aurubis expects the result at the end of September.
It is still unclear whether there is a connection between the new alleged metal theft and the cases that became known in June. According to the company, they are probably not related. It is very likely that there is no connection, said an Aurubis spokesman. “But we can’t rule it out with absolute certainty.”
Aurubis’ profit warning also caused a price storm at Salzgitter in the morning. Salzgitter holds almost 30 percent of Aurubis. The shares listed in the SDax have meanwhile plummeted by more than five percent. Salzgitter also withdrew its earnings forecast for 2023 as a whole. As a result of the accounting, the development of earnings at Aurubis is an integral part of earnings planning and has a direct impact on the Group’s expected annual profit, commented analysts.
“You can’t do that with a sack truck”
What the alleged metal thieves at Aurubis were actually after is unclear. Aurubis refines copper on a large scale so that it can be reused in the electronics industry. Valuable precious metals such as gold and silver also accumulate: “Perhaps the copper thieves weren’t after the copper but rather the precious metal,” says n-tv stock exchange reporter Frank Meyer.
Discrepancies in the metal-containing intermediates had already been reported in June. “Now the extent has obviously increased. One speaks of a low three-digit million amount. At a gold price of 57,000 euros per kilo, this corresponds to 57 million euros per ton. Damage of an estimated 100 million euros would then correspond to two tons of gold. You can’t do that drive out with the sack truck. There must have been a lot of criminal energy behind it,” comments Meyer.