Tesco accounting error 'stratospheric'

Tesco executives could be quizzed by MPs after its "stratospheric" error over profits, the chairman of the Parliamentary Business Committee, Adrian Bailey, has told the BBC.

He told Radio 5 live's Wake Up To Money it was "unbelievable" that the retailer could get into "such a mess".

On Monday, Tesco admitted that it had overstated its guidance for half-year profits by £250m.

The UK's accountancy watchdog says it is "monitoring the situation closely".

However, the Financial Reporting Council, said it would not act until Tesco's own investigation was completed.

Too little, too late?

On Tuesday, Tesco said that its new chief financial officer, Alan Stewart, would be joining the company immediately, more than two months earlier than originally planned.

He replaced Laurie McIlwee, who resigned from Tesco in April but was not due to leave the company officially until October.

On Wednesday evening, Tesco admitted that

Tesco suspends executives as inquiry launched into profit overstatement

Tesco has suspended four executives, including its UK managing director, after the supermarket overstated its half-year profit guidance by £250m.

That would be almost a quarter of its expected profit for the period.

It has launched an investigation headed by Deloitte, and says it is now working to establish the impact of the issue on its full-year results.

"Disappointment would be an understatement," said Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis.

Mr Lewis, who only took the helm on 1 September, said it was "a serious issue", but insisted "it doesn't take away from what I'm able to build at Tesco".

Shares fell 8% in early trading.

Mr Lewis said "a number of people" had been suspended from duty "to facilitate the fullest and deepest

Prada's profit falls 20%, hit by fall in leather goods sales

First-half net profit fell 21% to 244.8m euros (£192.5m; $314m), the company said.

It said the strength of the euro had hurt sales as well as a "difficult economic" environment.

Ahead of the announcement, Prada shares fell 1.3% in Hong Kong, to their lowest level in more than two years.

Prada expects profits in the second half of the year to be broadly in line with the first half, however "margins will continue to be under pressure with some marginal improvements deriving from the costs-cutting actions," the company said in a statement.

"We remain confident that the luxury goods market - especially the high-end segment where the Prada Group operates with success - will continue to offer interesting growth prospects in the medium-term," said Prada's chief executive

Manchester United profits plunge 84%

Manchester United has reported a sharp fall in annual profits despite record revenues for the year.

The football club said net income plunged 84% for the year to 30 June to £23.8m, from £146m a year ago.

It comes a month after Manchester United announced a £750m 10-year shirt manufacturer sponsorship deal with Adidas.