Shares in Spain's EiDF plunge 70% on resuming trade after four-month suspension (updated)

Energia Innovacion Y Desarrollo Fotovoltaico SA

28/08/2023 17:51

(Adds share price, details from Deloitte report and company's
reaction)
    By Matteo Allievi
       Aug 28 (Reuters) - Shares of Spanish solar panel company
EiDF Solar  EIDF.MC  plunged 70% on Monday, wiping 1.2 billion
euros ($1.3 billion) off its market capitalisation, as trading
in the stock resumed after a four-month suspension.
    Market regulator CNMV suspended trading of EiDF shares in
April after auditor PwC failed to sign off the company's 2022
financial report on time. 
    CNMV announced last Thursday that it would lift the
suspension after EiDF restated its 2022 accounts in mid-August. 
    Shares in EiDF, which installs solar panels and develops
solar farms, closed at 8.93 euros on Monday.   
    Before the suspension in April, the share price was 29.7
euros and the company was valued at 1.72 billion euros, more
than Spanish solar panel maker Solaria  SLRS.MC . 
    Although CNMV allowed the shares to be traded again from
Monday, the regulator warned that the information released
earlier this month by EiDF, after an analysis by accounting firm
Deloitte, was "not complete" and had "very relevant omissions".
    "Deloitte's forensic report includes an account of facts and
evidence of great significance for EiDF's shareholders... such
as the possible falsification of documents by the company," CNMV
said last Thursday.
    EiDF said in a statement on Thursday that it would not
release the full summary of Deloitte's report - as requested by
CNMV - since the company considers it is "free" to decide how to
manage its communications.
    "There is nothing in our publication that is not contained
in the (Deloitte) report or that deviates from its content,"
EiDF added. 
    The Deloitte report also showed that EiDF President Fernando
Romero, who is also the company's main shareholder, "was
involved first-hand in practically all of the company's
decisions", according to the stock regulator.
    The group said earlier in August that it would hire a new
chief executive within the next six months to meet the auditor's
requirements.
    Romero owns more than 72% of EiDF, according to Refinitiv
data. 
    In 2022, EiDF swung into the red with a 2.7 million euro
annual loss, against a 1.1 million euro profit in the previous
year.


($1 = 0.9252 euros)

 (Reporting by Matteo Allievi, editing by Inti Landauro, David
Latona and Susan Fenton)
 ((matteo.allievi@thomsonreuters.com;))