Woolworths Group agreed to pay A$44.5 million ($34 million) to settle a class action lawsuit over a drop in its share price in 2015 following a cut in its profit guidance, Australia's top grocer said on Friday.
The settlement with the law firm Maurice Blackburn, which filed the class action on behalf of investors in 2018, is without an admission of guilt, Woolworths said.
The lawsuit refers https://www.reuters.com/article/woolworths-grp-lawsuit-idUSL3N1VX07M to the first half of 2015, when Woolworths' investors had been expecting profit to be on track for an annual rise, but it fell for the half and the company amended its guidance without providing a specific outlook.
Maurice Blackburn did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
The law firm had opened the class action to investors in Woolworths between August 2014 and May 2015.
The Australian supermarket chain said the settlement amount will not have a financial impact.
($1 = 1.3082 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Stephen Coates)
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