VERBUND decidedly rebuts the audit court's criticism regarding its foreign activities
Independent of the changes undertaken since that time, in its report published today, VERBUND decidedly rebuts the statements made by the audit court, which states that the company breached its due diligence regarding its foreign activities in the years from 2008 to 2012.
VERBUND acts with extreme care in all its business activities as well as in its international dealings, it also acted this way in the years it was audited and therefore sees no foundation for the steps to be taken as recommended by the audit court.
Thus, VERBUND naturally already carried out the market analysis and economic feasibility study on foreign investments recommended to them by the audit court back then. Without these, VERBUND International would not have entered into such financial participation and it would not have received the agreement from the parent company VERBUND, the financing banks and the auditors.
Evidence of VERBUND's extremely careful approach before taking part in each international investment lies in the fact that a large amount of projects, which were indeed certified, were eventually rejected. The number of those far outnumber the projects invested in. In this way, around 20 investments abroad were audited within the timeframe in which the audit court carried out its auditing, but only the most promising ones in Germany, Turkey, France and Italy were actually carried out.
A series of analysts from large consultancy firms and banks have also expressed their approval of the approach and issued an excellent report for VERBUND's earlier foreign investments. Thus, VERBUND, due to its international activities, was among the companies, which, compared to other European top players displayed a strong profitable growth.
Especially to be emphasised is the fact that the financial markets also approved the decisions previously made by VERBUND and judged the investments made in Turkey, France and Italy to be sustainably profitable. VERBUND shares have also positively developed to a great extent during the investment period.
The rethinking of energy policy, which took place in the aftermath of the events in Fukushima, unforeseeable regulatory developments, particularly on the CO2 market as well as the economic and financial crisis with its decrease in sales, have all led to a foundational change in the European energy branch. This in particular has negatively influenced the value of foreign investment in France and Italy. These developments have had a negative impact not just on VERBUND, but on all European energy supply companies.
