Tesco shares fall 6% as pre-tax profits hit by fine

Profits fell to £145m

Tesco shares dropped in morning trading after the supermarket released its latest set of results, revealing its pre-tax profit was hit by a fine for an accounting error made back in 2014.

The firm said the fine had totalled £235m after they agreed to defer prosecution with the Serious Fraud Office and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last month, which caused pre-tax profits to fall to £145m from £202m the previous year. The supermarket came under fire in September 2014 when it overstated its half-year profits by £250m, which was later revised to £326m. On the news, the supermarket giant's shares fell 5.9% to 184.1p by 11.20am, with the company paying the FCA £85m to compensate investors who were misled by the profit statement. Despite this, the firm saw a rise in U...