Continued struggle for the future of Benkos Signa

Benko’s withdrawal, announced by Signa Holding co-partner Hans-Peter Haselsteiner last Friday, remains open. “No one can explain on what basis Haselsteiner came to this assessment,” an insider told the “Handelsblatt” (Monday edition). There is no consent, nothing is in writing.

• Also read: Rene Benko is retiring as head of the Signa advisory board

In a personal letter last week, some Signa co-shareholders called for Benko to withdraw as Signa manager, for his voting rights to be handed over in trust and for the appointment of German restructuring expert Arndt Geiwitz as general representative. “This request was fundamentally answered positively by Rene Benko and his willingness is evident,” Haselsteiner told the Ö1 “Mittagsjournal” last Friday. “It’s clear that he’s ready to sign it. He just wants to know from his side whether the shareholders would also be willing to make a contribution to restructuring the group with such a far-reaching solution.” Benko has to admit that success is no longer true to him, Haselsteiner told the OÖN.

• On the subject: Haselsteiner about Benko’s Signa: “Some mistakes have left their mark”

The financial situation of the Signa Group is difficult to assess from the outside because no consolidated financial statements for the entire group of companies are publicly accessible. According to the annual financial statements filed in the commercial register, the Signa Prime Group posted an annual loss of 1 billion euros for 2022, after a profit of 732 million euros in the previous year. The long-term liabilities amount to 8.9 billion euros at the end of 2022 and the short-term liabilities to 2.7 billion euros. Signa Retail Selection AG (KaDeWe, Galeria), based in Zurich, is said to have reported an annual loss of 1.4 billion euros at the end of September 2022, after a loss of 1.2 billion euros in the previous year. Signa Sports United recently filed for bankruptcy and there are no current business figures for Signa RFR US Selection AG (including Chrysler Building).

He assumes that “further problems will pop up,” Haselsteiner told the OÖN. Without new money from all fellow investors it won’t work, he told the TT. According to media reports, the capital requirement will be up to 400 million euros by the end of the year. The German Signa investors Roland Berger and Torsten Toeller apparently have a put option for their shares and now want to cash out.

Benko has no longer had an operational role in the Signa Group he designed since 2013, but has the majority of voting rights through his family foundations and is considered a Signa leader. Signa Holding GmbH has a top-class advisory board, Benko serves as chairman of the advisory board. The advisory board includes ex-SPÖ Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, the former Bank Austria boss Karl Sonntag, the German consultant Roland Berger, the former Morgan Stanley banker Walid Chammah, the Wüstenrot boss and ex-FPÖ Vice Chancellor Susanne Riess-Hahn, ÖOC President Karl Stoss, ex-RBI boss Karl Sevelda and Lindt & Sprüngli President Ernst Tanner. Gusenbauer is also chairman of the supervisory board and therefore chief controller of the real estate flagship Signa Prime. Stoss is his deputy. Other members of the supervisory board include Saturday and Sevelda. The fortunes of Signa Holding as co-managing director are controlled by the former head of cabinet of Economics Minister Martin Bartenstein (ÖVP) and the ex-head of the state-owned Federal Real Estate Company (BIG), Christoph Stadlhuber.

• Comment: Benko’s problems and his experts

The rumored liquidity bottleneck at the development projects subsidiary Signa Development and the collapse in the price of the Signa Development Finance bond with a volume of 300 million euros is causing a stir among bond investors. According to “Handelsblatt”, many mutual funds specializing in high-yield bonds have invested in the Signa bond, including DWS and the asset managers Schroders and Invesco. According to the newspaper, investors now suspect that money that was supposed to be available to repay the bond was used to repay shareholder loans. According to “Handelsblatt” information, Signa Development has scheduled an investor call for next Thursday in which the outflow of funds will be explained in more detail. Signa could not be reached for comment to the newspaper on Sunday about these allegations.

Signa is currently not responding to written inquiries from the OÖN and the APA.

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