Tesco share price steady as former execs face trial over accounting scandal

Shares in Tesco (LON:TSCO) have climbed into positive territory this morning, holding steady as three of the grocer’s former directors are set to stand trial to face charges over the company’s accounting scandal. The trial comes about three years after the discovery of a £263-million black hole in the company’s accounts, causing the shares to slump about 12 percent.

As of 08:43 BST, Tesco’s share price had added 0.52 percent to 184.05p, outperforming the broader UK market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index having dipped into the red and currently standing 0.17 percent lower at 7,425.73 points. The group’s shares have added more than seven percent to their value over the past year, bur have given up some 11 percent in the year-to-date.

The Telegraph reports that Christopher Bush, Tesco UK’s former managing director, Carl Rogberg, the company’s former UK finance director, and John Scouler, its former UK food commercial director, will stand trial today, having been accused of abusing their positions to falsely inflate the grocer’s profits in 2014.

The newspaper quoted prosecutor Esther Schutzer-Weissman as alleging at a preliminary hearing a year ago that the three men had “acted dishonestly by concealing the true financial position from auditors and failed to correct the false accounting of commercial income”.

The trial will come after Tesco agreed earlier this year to pay launched its compensation scheme for investors who bought Tesco shares and bonds between August 29, 2014, when the company issued a misleading trading update, and September 19, 2014, shortly before the company informed the market of the false accounting.

As of 09:03 BST, Monday, 04 September, Tesco PLC share price is 184.98p.