Shares in Vivendi Universal, the French utility and media group, plunged as much as 40.9% after reports in the French press that the group had tried to flatter its 2001 accounts by €1.5bn ($1.47bn).

The reports in Le Monde that Vivendi had tried to include a block of shares sold in BSkyB, the UK satellite broadcasting company, in its accounts before being blocked by the French regulators piled on the agony for Jean-Marie Messier, the chairman and chief executive who has said he will resign.