KTM, KIKA/Leiner: The sad prominent bankruptcy list can be expanded with Palmers with the next traditional company. The reason for the financial difficulties is said to be a Corona loan in millions. Now, not for the first time, the taxpayer could be asked to check – if not an investor.
Palmers and Pandemic? Something is about. Right: Due to the establishment of the MASK manufacturer Hygiene Austria, the company was not only a subject in the U-Committee, among other things, an antitrust court was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 euros. Peanuts, you look at the financial turbulence in which the company is now, for two years at Corona, …
According to media reports, the salaries were not paid to the approximately 500 employees on Friday and a message to the public is scheduled for Monday. According to reports, it is about an investor who has to control the battered company again. In a protocol of the annual general meeting from the end of January, it says: “That there is currently an investor who is planning to enter and invest in the figurative company. If this message is made, it is planned to make a capital increase.
So everything is good again?
Is the traditional brand stored? Hardly, say financial experts. They record a Corona loan as a reason for the financial imbalance. The reimbursement is at the end of June and Palmers does not have enough liquid funds for this. In the fall it was still in the annual financial statements of the company: “An essential assumption for the positive continuation prediction is the negotiation of the loans that owed EUR 14,418 million (Cofag) on 30 June 2025.”
According to insiders, these negotiations failed. “The COFAG credit share in the total debt is 33 percent. That is why it can be assumed that the state is the biggest creditor, “says Finanzombudsmann Gerald Zmuegg.
As with many other companies, the loan was approved for a period of five years. Economic effects that were due to the distribution of Corona must be financed. At that time, the Bureau’s warranty ensured that the bank could be harmless for 90 percent of the loan amount if Palmers (or another company) do not pay on time. In the end the taxpayer pays. And probably not just with Palmers.
“I hope it won’t run like Kika/Leiner”
In general, in July 2024, when the Cofag was liquidated, there were still 219 million euros in liability. And if you look at the award to the washing manufacturer in 2020, this quickly raises the question of whether enough has been checked at that time.
Because the guarantee granted at that time took place at a time when the company showed losses and was almost twice as high as equity. The cash flow was possible for a loan efficiency of 20 years – but not for the given five. For that it would have been a huge increase in the cash flow. “I would clearly not have approved this warranty as a COFAG based on the available figures,” says Finanzombudsmann Zmuegg: “I hope that the financial power of the law will immediately check this time and not only in the event of bankruptcy if it looks like KiKa /Leiner and Signa is too late.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
