The French subsidiary of Ferrero (Kinder, Nutella brands) was the subject of a tax adjustment in 2022, we learned from the company on Friday, confirming information from the online media L'Informé, which evokes the sum of 45 million euros.
The amount of the adjustment has been neither confirmed nor denied by the group.
Asked, the tax administration declined to comment.
According to L'Informé, Ferrero France had to repatriate funds related to its activities in France from Luxembourg, where the Italian company's headquarters are located.
This transfer followed, indicates the same source, a control of the French tax administration covering several years.
“
What lead to a proposal to rectify the results, accepted by the industrialist who therefore had to repatriate no less than 115 million euros in the accounts of the tricolor company.
Amount on which a tax reminder of 44.8 million euros was made, paid in 2022
, ”explains L’Informé.
When questioned, Ferrero France indicated that it had "
implemented the procedure for the spontaneous regularization of its declarations of taxable results for the financial years 2015-16 to 2020-21
", after discussions with the tax authorities.
Read alsoTurkish hazelnut: investigation against Ferrero for abuse of a dominant position
14 billion euros in revenue as of August 31, 2022
The company “
was not subject to any tax increase or penalty
”, we were assured from the same source.
“
To date, Ferrero France Commerciale is not subject to any tax proceedings.
Ferrero International, the parent company of the group, earned 14 billion euros in turnover during its financial year ended August 31, 2022, up 10.4%, according to its website.
According to the Luxembourg online media Paperjam, which consulted Ferrero's annual accounts in the trade and companies register, the Italian giant's net profit (751 million euros) "shrunk by 24%" over one
year
.
The owner of Kinder sweets has gone through a difficult year, with his involvement in a scandal of chocolates contaminated with salmonella in his Belgian factory in Arlon, as the Easter holidays approach.
At the beginning of April, Ferrero recalled all the products manufactured on this site, after the report of dozens of cases of salmonellosis possibly linked to the consumption of its chocolate products in several European countries.
Judicial inquiries have been opened both in Belgium and in France to determine possible criminal responsibilities.