FCA fines John Wood Group £12.99M for misleading statements

FCA News & Press Releases

Filed March 4th, 2026

Detected March 5th, 2026

Summary

The FCA has fined John Wood Group PLC £12,993,700 for publishing inaccurate information in its financial results for 2022, 2023, and the first half of 2024. The company failed to maintain adequate systems and controls, leading to misleading statements that impacted its share price.

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What changed

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has imposed a fine of £12,993,700 on John Wood Group PLC for breaches of Listing Rules related to publishing misleading information and failing to maintain adequate systems and controls. The company's accounting judgements were inappropriately influenced by a desire to maintain previously stated financial results, leading to inaccurate full-year 2022 and 2023, and half-year 2024 financial results. This misconduct resulted in a significant drop in Wood Group's share price and a suspension of trading.

John Wood Group accepted the findings, qualifying for a 30% reduction in the penalty. The FCA's investigation concluded within 9 months, demonstrating an effort to improve enforcement pace. While no specific compliance deadline is mentioned for other entities, this action serves as a strong reminder for all listed companies to ensure the accuracy and integrity of their financial reporting and public statements to avoid substantial penalties.

What to do next

Review internal controls for financial reporting accuracy
Ensure all public statements regarding financial results are rigorously verified
Consult legal counsel on adherence to Listing Rules and Principles

Penalties

£12,993,700 (reduced from £18,562,500 due to early settlement)

Source document (simplified)

FCA fines John Wood Group PLC for issuing misleading statements

Press Releases First published:

04/03/2026

Last updated: 04/03/2026
John Wood Group PLC (Wood Group) has been fined £12,993,700 for publishing inaccurate information in its financial results.

Following the poor performance of certain projects, Wood Group’s accounting judgements were inappropriately influenced by its desire to maintain previously stated financial results. Wood Group did not have adequate systems, controls or procedures to prevent this from happening.

This resulted in Wood Group publishing inaccurate information in its full-year 2022 and 2023 financial results and the half-year 2024 results. The company failed to take reasonable care to ensure that its announcements about those results were not false or misleading.

These issues came to light from November 2024 onwards. Wood Group’s share price fell by 78% by April 2025 and its shares were suspended in May 2025.

Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said:

'Investors rely on accurate information to make decisions. Wood Group failed to provide this and fell well short of the high standards we expect of listed companies.'

The FCA opened its investigation into Wood Group in June 2025 and concluded it within 9 months. This is an example of how the FCA is improving the pace of its enforcement investigations.

Wood Group accepted the findings and so qualified for a 30% reduction in its financial penalty.

Notes to editors

Final Notice 2026: John Wood Group PLC (PDF)
Wood Group agreed to resolve the case at an early stage and qualified for a 30% discount on the penalty imposed. Without this discount, the FCA would have imposed a financial penalty of £18,562,500 on Wood Group.
The FCA announced its investigation of Wood Group in June 2025: FCA Press Release.
The FCA has imposed the financial penalty on Wood Group for the following breaches:
- Listing Rule 1.3.3R (misleading information must not be published) by failing to take reasonable care to ensure that its announcements were not misleading, false or deceptive and did not omit anything likely to affect the import of the information; and
- Listing Principle 1 (a listed company must take reasonable steps to establish and maintain adequate procedures, systems and controls to enable it to comply with its obligations)
On 30 October 2025, Wood Group published its restated financial results for the full years 2022 and 2023, which included material adjustments arising from the misconduct described above.

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