Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, has begun the process of its multi-million-pound compensation scheme to repay shareholders that were affected by the accounting scandal.
September 2014 saw the supermarket admitting a £250m overstatement of profits, with the UK’s supermarket watchdog finding that the retailer had deliberately withheld money to boost its sales.
Many of the company’s investors took legal action after the scandal, claiming they had lost millions due to the misleading accounts. In the months following the admittance of wrongdoing, Tesco’s shares plummeted to around half of their value.
The scheme will issue compensation to anyone who purchased stocks or bonds in the supermarket giant between 29 August and 19 September 2014.
On 23 August, Tesco announced that KPMG had been appointed to administer the compensation, with oversight given by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Earlier this year, Tesco agreed that they would pay a £129m fine to the Serious Fraud Office in order to avoid prosecution for their wrongdoing.
At the time, Tesco said that it had “undertaken an extensive programme of change” including “extensive changes to leadership, structures, financial controls, partnerships with suppliers, and the way the business buys and sells” since 2014.
It is believed that the process of compensating investors is likely to cost the company around £85m.