DCC facing €50m bill after court rules on insider trading

DCC, the oil and food distribution group, faces a compensation bill of up to €50 million after the Supreme Court ruled it had engaged insider dealing in shares of banana importer Fyffes.

The unanimous ruling of the Supreme Court yesterday overturns a 2005 High Court judgement against DCC and its chief executive Jim Flavin.

Fyffes is seeking up to €85m in compensation from DCC — equivalent to the profit made by DCC when it sold off a 10% stake in Fyffes in February 2000. Fyffes claimed the sale of the shares breached the insider dealing provisions of the Companies Act.