(Alliance News) - The Financial Reporting Council on Thursday said it has begun an investigation into Ernst & Young LLP's audit of Made.com Group PLC's results for 2021.

The FRC said it made the decisions to look into the accounts at a meeting on March 20.

"The investigation will be conducted by the FRC's Enforcement division under the Audit Enforcement Procedure," the FRC said.

Made.com has made headlines in the last year, after it was put into administration.

In November 2022, Next PLC agreed to buy assets of failed furniture seller Made.com out of administration. The clothing and homewares retailer bought the brand name, domain names and intellectual property of Made.com Design Ltd from administrators for GBP3.4 million.

Made.com's shares were then cancelled in January this year. It had debuted on the London Main Market in June 2021, so it lasted less than a year and a half as a listed company.

In March 2022, Made.com had released its full-year results for 2021, which are now in question.

It had reported a pretax loss of GBP31.4 million for 2021 from GBP14.6 million in 2020. It put this down to a "dramatic" increase in the cost of freight, which grew GBP32 million compared to 2020 rates.

Further, it said that one-off costs of GBP5.3 million in relation to its initial public offering and share-based payment charges of GBP3.5 million also contributed to the loss.

However, its revenue jumped 50% to GBP371.9 million from GBP247.3 million the year prior.

By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter

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