Hess Report Shows €45 million Profit Never Existed

According to Lux Review, the full extent of the hole in the finances of German lighting manufacturer Hess has been revealed in a report from the administrators, showing that €45 million of profits never existed.

Over the six-year period from 2007-2012, Hess repeatedly overstated its profits by millions of euro, according to the report, culminating in a discrepancy of more than €20 million in the three-month period leading up to the firm’s flotation on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange last year.

An investigation carried out on behalf of the insolvency administrator Volker Grub alleges that former directors Christoph Hess and Peter Ziegler – who were both sacked earlier this year – had brought Hess’s shares on to the stock market on the basis of false accounts. Shortly after the sacking of the pair, Hess filed for insolvency.

As reported previously, Hess has since been bought by the Nordeon Group.

10 Dec