The UK’s Financial Services Authority (FAS) is considering looking into a £13.5m share sale by Iceland chairman Malcolm Walker after the group issued a profits warning, only six weeks after he sold most of his holding, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Walker, the founder and executive chairman of Iceland, sold 4m shares at 339p on 20 December last year, just days before the share price reached an all-time high of 346p.
A spokesman for the FSA said: “If we receive allegations that a director has dealt when he’s not meant to, we would investigate.” FSA rules state that directors should not deal within two months of a price sensitive announcement.
A spokesman for Mr Walker said: “He was going non-exec and this was his only opportunity to sell for six months because of the change of year-end.”
Iceland shares plummeted yesterday after the frozen food retailer said that like-for-like sales at the food stores had dropped by 1.5pc in the 26 weeks to December 29 and had crashed by 5.5pc in the four Christmas trading weeks. The company also announced that they were undertaking a “thorough evaluation” of Iceland’s integration with the Booker’s Cash & Carry outlets and would report back next week.
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