Balance sheet in the third quarter: These stocks were poison in the depot

In the third quarter, the Dax goes up by almost 400 points. But some papers cannot jump on the bandwagon. On the contrary: your career in the leading index is over. In some cases, existence is shaky, even completely over. A disaster for shareholders in any case.

After the price crash in the spring and the strong recovery in the second quarter, not much happened on the German stock market in the third quarter – at least at first glance. The leading index Dax stood at 12,391 points on July 1 and was quoted at 12,761 points at the end of the quarter. The volatility remains extremely high, which is mainly due to the imponderables with regard to the corona pandemic, the US presidential election and the upcoming Brexit. In addition, the trade tensions between the USA and China are smoldering somewhat in the background.

The most prominent loser in the third quarter that has now ended was the scandalous Wirecard share in the Dax. The payment service provider's balance sheet fraud went through all the media and has now thrown the share out of all indices. For a price slide, from which the share has not yet recovered, massive allegations against the leasing provider Grenke in September. With Thyssenkrupp and Lufthansa, two former DAX companies are also among the big losers.

Wirecard has duped (almost) everyone

Wirecard was a nightmare – for Deutsche Börse itself, for Bafin, for the auditors and above all for the investors. Allegations of inconsistencies in the payment service provider's balance sheet have been around for a long time, but they only caused higher exchange rates temporarily. In 2008 he was accused of cheating on the balance sheet. However, it took another twelve years and further short attacks on the company until the house of cards owned by CEO Markus Braun and his associates collapsed in mid-June.

As of August, the share flew out of the Dax and TecDax. The former director Jan Marsalek is still being sought. In the meantime, the liquidator is selling the subsidiaries around the world. After the complete exchange rate disaster in the second half of June, Wirecard fell again at a very low level in the third quarter by more than 86 percent to last 78 cents.

There are two types of investors in the stock market: those who bet on rising prices and those who want to make money on falling prices. In the German equity culture, recommendations for stocks are made in analyst research, but less often for sale. In the meantime, comments from short sellers who are betting on falling prices are often disrespectful of attacks on companies and their shares.

Fraser Perring with his analyst firm Viceroy is one of those investors who is betting on falling prices. He blatantly accused the leasing provider of fraud and described the stock as uninvestable, including because of dozens of transactions with undisclosed affiliated companies.

Now it is up to Grenke to refute the allegations. However, the fact that Grenke wanted to commission the auditor who had already checked the books in the past to carry out a special audit initially met with a lack of understanding among investors. The presentation of the account statements did not help much, just as the promise to cooperate extensively with the financial supervisory authority Bafin. Investors still remember the Wirecard scandal too much. In the third quarter balance, Grenke now has a minus of 54 percent.

Thyssenkrupp – steel made in Germany

Thyssenkrupp had a plan. The Esseners wanted to split off the loss-making steel business and keep the elevator division. In the meantime, however, the profitable elevator business has been sold and the steel division is still part of the group. The liquidity situation has improved in the short term, but the steel business remains in deficit.

For the fourth quarter alone, the DZ Bank analysts again expect an operating loss in the mid to high three-digit million range. In the medium term, however, the remaining divisions should generate positive cash flows again, otherwise the elevator money blessing would be used up quickly and Thyssenkrupp would need money again.

There are already initial desires in this direction. The head of Thyssenkrupp-Stahl, Bernhard Osburg, let it be known that no steel manufacturer could create climate-neutral production on its own. A state entry would lead to a massive dilution of the existing shareholders. Producing steel in Germany on a sustainable economic basis still seems to be a difficult undertaking. While Thyssenkrupp's stock cost over 25 euros three years ago, it lost 31.7 percent in value to just 4.31 euros in the third quarter.

The aviation industry is one of the big losers from the corona pandemic worldwide. People rarely travel anymore, and customers and business partners often only visit each other virtually. At most, Deutsche Lufthansa flies on sight, and capacities are constantly being adapted to the falling demand. The crane line will reduce its fleet even more than previously planned and recently decided on a third restructuring program.

The entry of the German state with 20 percent and the nine billion euro cash injection saved the company on the one hand, but on the other hand the airline is now facing a long phase of debt relief. After initially four percent, the silent state participation will become more and more expensive from 2021. The downsizing of the fleet and the sale of non-core areas seem inevitable to experts. In the opinion of HSBC, falling personnel costs and greater flexibility are also inevitable.

At the beginning of the year the Lufthansa share cost 16.50 euros, currently it is still trading at 7.36 euros. In the third quarter alone, the price lost 17.7 percent.