FCA Imposes £13 Million Fine on John Wood Group for Inaccurate Financial Reporting

The Financial Conduct Authority has fined John Wood Group £13 million for publishing inaccurate financial results. The fine comes as the engineering group prepares for a forthcoming takeover by a Dubai-based consultancy. The investigation revealed that Wood Group’s financial judgements were unduly influenced by the desire to maintain previously stated results, leading to the issuance of misleading information.

A nine-month investigation initiated by the FCA, following an independent review by Deloitte, found that the group lacked adequate systems and controls to prevent inaccuracies. This failure resulted in incorrect information being published in its annual financial results for 2022 and 2023 and interim results for 2024. The FCA stated that Wood Group did not exercise reasonable care in ensuring that its financial announcements were truthful.

Wood Group first acknowledged accounting issues in November 2024, which severely affected its share price. Subsequently, the company’s shares were suspended from trading for several months. Recent updates indicated that a £207 million takeover at 30p per share by Sidara is set to be finalised next week, following the withdrawal of earlier offers from Apollo, a private equity firm.

The FCA’s report highlighted serious weaknesses in Wood’s financial culture, particularly as the company attempted to bolster investor confidence in the face of mounting scrutiny. The investigation revealed that staff were under pressure to deliver results aligned with market expectations, resulting in inappropriate accounting practices and a lack of transparency.

Key findings of the FCA included inadequate oversight of accounting judgements related to loss-making projects. This inadequacy led to the inappropriate recognition of costs and revenues, as well as a failure to maintain proper accounting standards. The FCA noted that the group’s financial controls were insufficiently robust, enabling the occurrence of breaches.

Wood Group’s commitment to rectify these issues has been acknowledged by the FCA. The company has developed a remediation and governance action plan to address the shortcomings identified in the review. Changes within the finance roles and board structure are already underway in response to the findings.