By Rory Gallivan

LONDON--U.K. supermarket operator Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) has agreed to pay compensation to investors after admitting it published a false or misleading impression of the value of its shares and bonds in a 2014 trading statement.

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority said Tuesday that Tesco will pay compensation to investors who bought shares in the company on or after the day of the trading statement, August 29, 2014, and still held them when the statement was corrected on September 22.

Tesco said it estimates the compensation will amount to 85 million pounds ($106.3 million) and said it reached an agreement with the Serious Fraud Office to avoid prosecution for false accounting in 2014 provided it pays a GBP129 million pound fine and takes other measures.

The SFO opened a criminal investigation into Tesco in October 2014 after the retailer disclosed it had overstated its profit by GBP263 million due to questionable accounting practices that included the early booking of income and delayed booking of costs at its core U.K. food business.

Saabire Chaudhuri contributed to this article.

Write to Rory Gallivan at rory.gallivan@wsj.com; Twitter: @RoryGallivan

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 28, 2017 02:59 ET (06:59 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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