Kraft Heinz share price plunges as SEC probe and losses spook Wall Street

Consumer goods giant Kraft Heinz’s share price plunged almost 30 per cent this evening as a probe from US investigators and widening quarterly losses spooked investors.

Shares in the company plummeted on Wall Street this afternoon as the firm wrote down the value of its Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands by $15bn (£11.5bn) and reported a $12.6bn loss in the fourth quarter of the year.

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An announcement that its accounting practices are under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) further jilted confidence.

The company said that it had received a subpoena from federal regulators in October related to its accounting policies, procedures and internal controls related to procurement. In its statement late last night the firm said that it is fully co-operating with the SEC.

The news comes as Heinz, which snapped up Kraft four years ago, has been embarking on a cost-cutting campaign amid growing pressure to its flagship products from industry disruptors.