Argos/Littlewoods fined for fixing toy prices

Retailers Argos and Littlewoods were today fined a record £22.6m (€33.6m) by the British Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for fixing the price of toys and games made by Hasbro.

An investigation by the OFT concluded that Argos and Littlewoods had entered into anti-competitive agreements with the toy giant between 1999 and May 2001.

Argos was fined £17.28m (€25.7m), reflecting its higher turnover, and Littlewoods £5.37m (€7.98m).

Hasbro faced a £15.5m (€23.04m) fine for its involvement but escaped with no penalty on this occasion because it "blew the whistle" on Argos and Littlewoods, the OFT said.

Last November, however, Hasbro was fined £4.95m (€7.36m) by the OFT for preventing 10 distributors of its products selling them on below its list price.

This was reduced from a potential £9m (€13.38m) fine because it agreed to co-operate.

According to the OFT, Argos and Littlewoods, through its Index catalogue shop division, agreed not to sell Hasbro products below set prices.

Among the toys and games involved were Action Man, Monopoly, Tweenies, Pictionary, Mouse Trap, Cluedo, Kerplunk, and Star Wars merchandise.