The Hamburg-based biotech and pharmaceutical group Evotec will be excluded from Deutsche Börse's selection indices from Tuesday. This was announced by the Frankfurt stock exchange operator late on Thursday evening, citing point 5.1.2 of the Dax rules, according to which the violation of basic criteria leads to exclusion.
Daniel Mohr
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The previous M-Dax stock Evotec has not yet submitted the audited annual report for 2022, but this should have been done by the end of April. This is the third time that Deutsche Börse has applied a rule that was introduced after the Wirecard disaster, when there was no recourse against companies that simply no longer publish business figures.
"We are surprised and disappointed by the exclusion from Deutsche Börse's indices," said Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec SE. "We immediately communicated the cyberattack on us on an ad hoc basis in April and received a postponement of the deadline for our balance sheet from the financial regulator Bafin, as well as from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where we are also listed."
After the attack, the company had to take all systems off the grid, which resulted in delays. "But according to current knowledge, no data has been lost," says Lanthaler, who expects Evotec to publish the fully audited annual report in mid-May. "All preliminary figures were already available before the cyberattack and are public," says the CEO. The company had reported a 23 percent increase in sales to 618 million euros and an operating profit of 107 million euros.
Stock market remains consistent
"We are being punished for an act that unfortunately can happen to any company, and it plays into the hands of the perpetrators if they now cause more damage than necessary," says Lanthaler. "In the company itself, the damage is low, all partners continue to work with us, trust is high, especially since some much larger pharmaceutical companies have already experienced cyberattacks, so there is a lot of understanding."
However, the exchange does not want to make an exception to the rules. Two years ago, Grenke was the first case where the rule was applied, and last June Nordex was affected. Both companies were removed from the S-Dax, Nordex also from the Tec-Dax. With Evotec, an M-Dax stock is now affected for the first time. The share price reacted with an initial minus of 10 percent, but this later diminished.
If the audited annual report is available in the course of May, Evotec will also be reactivated for indices on the next ranking list of the stock exchange at the beginning of June. Grenke returned to the S-Dax, Nordex even moved up to the M-Dax. "The penalty now is a shame, but we'll be back," says Evotec CEO Lanthaler. "We continue to do our business successfully, and that's the most important thing." The beneficiary is now SMA Solar, which will be included in the M-Dax from Tuesday onwards. The share price rose by 5 percent. The vacant place in the S-Dax will go to Süss Microtech, the place in the Tec-Dax Kontron.
The exchange's new rulebook will also have an impact on the exchange's June decision. Accordingly, only companies that have reported profits for two financial years in a row are allowed to enter the Dax. On the May ranking published on Friday, Lufthansa is in 34th place and thus close to the necessary minimum 33rd place to be included in the Dax. But in 2021, Lufthansa reported a loss. The rise of the Dax is therefore not possible until next spring at the earliest, if 2022 is followed by a profit in 2023. There is therefore unlikely to be any change in the Dax in June.
In addition to the return of Evotec, the M-Dax could also include the inclusion of Hochtief. Index analyst Luca Thorißen of the investment bank Stifel Europe also sees good opportunities for Krones, especially since a delisting could soon be imminent in addition to the first relegation candidate Adtran with Vantage Towers. The real estate group Aroundtown would be the third relegation candidate after its price crash.