By Anastasiia Kozlova
(Reuters) -BayWa shares fell by as much as 35% on Monday after the diversified German trading group commissioned an external inquiry into whether it can restructure its finances.
The shares were down 34.9% at 0739 GMT, on course for their worst day yet. They also hit the bottom of the German small-caps index and so far this year have fallen by 52.78%.
The Munich-based trader of farming supplies and produce, which has been grappling with rising borrowing costs, late on Friday referred to its “tense financing situation” and said it needed restructuring.
According to the quarterly report, released on May 8, the group had long-term bank debts of 3.1 billion euros ($3.38 billion) at the end of March, plus short-term liabilities of almost 2.5 billion.
Last year BayWa said, it planned to sell its solar business.
The European renewable energy sector is under pressure from overcapacity in solar modules and from low-price Chinese competitors.
A restructuring report is usually required by creditors and is the prerequisite for them to grant further loans or to extend them.
($1 = 0.9174 euros)
(Reporting by Anastasiia Kozlova and Amir OrusovEditing by Ludwig Burger and Barbara Lewis)
