Parmalat said today its net debt was at more than €14 billion in September, almost eight times more than the figure admitted to by its former managers, most of whom are under arrest.
Auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), hired to check the multinational food company's books after a scandal broke out last month, also found that sales and core earnings figures had been highly inflated.
In a statement today Parmalat said net debt at September 30 was €14.3 billion compared with €1.8 billion in official third-quarter results announced in November.
The draft PwC report also showed January-September earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were €121m, lower than the €651m stated. Revenues were €4 billion, compared with €5.38 billion in the earlier accounts.
Parmalat's founder Calisto Tanzi, two ex-finance directors and two outside auditors are among 11 people arrested so far. No one has yet been charged in the case.
Tanzi returned to jail late on Sunday after three days under observation in hospital for suspected heart problems and was expected to undergo another round of questioning on today.
The firm operates in 30 countries with 35,000 staff.
