UMBRO, the England football team sponsor, is expected to plunge into the red this year after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) imposed one of its biggest penalties for price fixing on the company.
The £6.64 million fine for price-fixing on replica football shirts is expected to see Umbro fall into a loss, given that the penalty is far higher than the £3.8 million of profits the group reported last year.
Yesterday the OFT handed out £18.6 million in fines to said that it had already launched an appeal againstcompanies including JJB Sports, Manchester United and the Football Association, for illegally forcing up the price of football shirts.
Umbro, majority owned by Doughty Hanson, the private equity firm, is suffering from the loss of its deal to supply the Manchester United football kit last year, estimated to be worth £2 million a year.
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JJB Sports, which received the largest fine from the OFT, the decision, which it claimed was “politically motivated”.
The retailer was fined £8.4 million, three times the figure it had expected.
Umbro would not comment yesterday.