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JJB fined for lack of deal disclosure
SPORTS retailer JJB was fined nearly £500,000 yesterday for failing to give investors the full picture about two acquisitions.
The Financial Services Authority imposed the fine after JJB said in 2007 that it had bought the Original Shoe Company for £5m, without disclosing it paid an extra £10.04m to buy all the shoe chain’s stock. In 2008, JJB told the market it bought Qubefootwear for £1, but did not mention it had paid a further £6.47m to settle the company’s overdraft.
The information inflated JJB’s share price for nine months before the extent of its indebtedness was exposed in its interim 2008 results. Its share price dived 49.5 per cent that day.
The FSA said the failure “showed a lack of regard for the market.”