Linda Sandler (c) 2014, Bloomberg News. NEW YORK — RadioShack Corp., which has seen its shares collapse as it fights a losing battle with big-box electronics stores and online rivals, is being probed by the U.S. Labor Department over its handling of employees’ retirement money.
The department wrote the company last month to say it would investigate its 401(k) plan from 2011 on to ensure it was following U.S. rules for retirement plans, RadioShack said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. At least three lawsuits have been filed against the company since then, it said in the filing.
RadioShack, as high as $78 in 1999, has dived from $18.56 in 2011 to less than 40 cents a share. It has said it might not survive as a “going concern.”
The plan had around $228 million of investments at “fair value” as of June. RadioShack shares in the 401(k) were valued at $3.5 million, off from $11.3 million a year earlier, the company disclosed.
The company said it has supplied documents requested by the Labor Department and is working “diligently” to make sure the 401(k) follows all the rules.
Closing stores and cutting costs as it runs out of cash, RadioShack has said it will soon stop matching employees’ retirement-fund contributions.
Founded in 1921, RadioShack sold radio equipment for ships and amateur operators before becoming a do-it-yourself electronics chain and introducing the first mass-produced personal computer.