A shareholder urges ADM’s CEO to resign as the company faces scrutiny over accounting issues that have significantly impacted its stock.
Chicago: It’s been nearly a year since Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. revealed a probe into its accounting practices, which led to a staggering $12 billion loss for the company.
Now, a shareholder and former executive is calling for CEO Juan Luciano to step down. They’re frustrated with the lack of transparency about the situation and how it’s being handled.
Hartwig Fuchs, who used to be the board chairman at Toepfer International, took to social media to express his concerns. He believes ADM hasn’t done enough to recover from the share loss and criticized the company for not providing any valuable updates.
Fuchs stated that if a highly paid CEO can’t clarify the situation within a few months, it might be time for a change at the top. He emphasized the need for transparency to regain investor trust and protect the company’s future.
ADM has been under scrutiny since January when it disclosed an investigation into its nutrition unit, which was supposed to be a key growth area. The CFO resigned, but the company is still struggling to sort out its accounting issues.
Just recently, ADM announced it found more errors in its financial reporting, leading to a need for restatements. They even canceled a quarterly earnings call just hours before it was set to begin, causing shares to drop further.
Fuchs noted that the market is reacting negatively to ADM’s situation, and he regretted buying more shares. He pointed out that the stock price has taken a significant hit, and there seems to be no effort from ADM to reverse this trend.
In response, ADM has made some changes, including replacing its CFO and bringing in new board members to help restore credibility. They’ve also corrected some of their financial reporting errors, which had previously overstated sales by a whopping $1.28 billion.
This isn’t the first time ADM has faced controversy. They were involved in a price-fixing scandal back in the 1990s, which even inspired a movie. The company has also dealt with lawsuits over price manipulation in the ethanol market.
Despite spending billions on acquisitions in the nutrition sector, ADM has struggled to meet profit expectations due to declining demand, especially for plant-based products.
Fuchs concluded by saying that the good people at ADM deserve protection from these negative reports, and he hopes the share price will rise to reflect the company’s true earning potential.
