Adler directors offer to quit after auditor declines to give opinion on financial statements

– German real estate group Adler Group SA said on Saturday all members of its board of directors had offered to resign with immediate effect, after an auditor declined to give an opinion on the company’s financial statements.

Adler has been embroiled in an accounting investigation follows allegations made against it last October by short seller Fraser Perring’s Viceroy Research.

Auditor KPMG recently said it did not have enough evidence to disprove all of the claims made against the company.

On Saturday, Adler said that the resignations of board members Thilo Schmid, Thomas Zinnöcker and joint-CEO Thierry Beaudemoulin were accepted on the understanding that they will stay on until the company’s annual general meeting on 29 June and then stand for re-election.

Until June the board will therefore consist of chairman A. Stefan Kirsten, Beaudemoulin, Schmid and Zinnöcker.

The company reported its annual results on Saturday.

Adler said on Friday that the company had received notice from auditor KPMG that it would issue a “disclaimer of opinion” on the consolidated financial statements and annual accounts for 2021.