Thales: share price falls after UK investigation
(CercleFinance.com) - Thales shares plummeted on the Paris Bourse on Friday morning, following the announcement of the opening of an investigation in the UK into alleged corruption.
This morning, the defense electronics group's shares plunged more than 6%, by far the biggest drop on a CAC 40 index down less than 0.1% at the same time.
On Friday, the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced that it had launched an investigation into the company, on suspicion of bribery.
In a brief press release, the SFO states that it is conducting its investigation in collaboration with the French Parquet National Financier (PNF) within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
While the exact nature of the investigation is not known, Nick Ephgrave, Director of the SFO, refers to "serious allegations of irregularities.
It is difficult at this stage to quantify the financial risk associated with this news, Invest Securities analysts said.
However, it should penalise the group's image and create a factor of uncertainty in the short term, the broker warned.
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