Errors found at Harry Potter printer

Harry Potter printer St Ives has been hit by a major reporting scandal after it uncovering ‘serious accounting errors’.

The errors are set to wipe £2.8m off the group's full-year profits.

The news sent shares in the company, which also prints Accountancy Age and magazines such as Vogue and The Economist, down by 10% - the company has already issued two profit warnings this year.

According to reports, the problems are isolated to its point-of-sale division, which prints promotional material for retailers, including Marks & Spencer and WH Smith.

The accounting errors relate to costs that were not properly expensed, work in progress that was overvalued and debts that could not be recovered.

Miles Emley, the company's chairman, said the person responsible had been sacked and blamed the errors on ‘incompetence’, adding: ‘We have not found any trace of fraudulent or deliberate manipulation for personal gain. There is no cash impact on the group.’