MILAN (Reuters) – Italian defence group Leonardo is not the subject of a judicial investigation into the Kuwait Eurofighter programme, the company said on Tuesday, adding that its deal to supply 28 jets is proceeding in line with the agreed contract.
Leonardo shares fell as much as 8% earlier on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session, with traders attributing the drop to an investigation into the Kuwait deal.
Kuwait has referred two senior army officers to the public prosecutor over suspected corruption related to the deal to buy Eurofighter Typhoon jets, the state anti-corruption body said on Monday.
Leonardo said its contract with Kuwait “has always been based on the principles of maximum transparency as well as full fairness” and that every transaction is subject to rigorous checks.
Kuwait signed a 8 billion euro ($9.04 billion) contract with Leonardo in 2016 for a total of 28 aircraft, the first two of which were delivered last month.
Leonardo said on Tuesday that “others will follow as per plan”.
Shares in Leonardo were down 4.3% at 1217 GMT, making it the biggest loser on a little-changed Milan blue-chip index.
(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by David Goodman)
