Italian watchdog fines online retailer YNAP more than $5 million

ROME (Reuters) -Italy's antitrust agency has fined online fashion retailer YOOX Net-A-Porter (YNAP) 5.25 million euros ($5.69 million) over misleading pricing and its returns policy, the regulator said on Friday.

The retailer advertised reductions on products on which the final sale price was "substantially the same" as the pre-discount price and blocked orders from customers who had previously returned more than a certain amount of purchases, the regulator said in a statement.

YNAP said it would appeal against the antitrust agency's ruling, adding in an emailed comment to Reuters that it had "always followed the highest standards of commercial conduct."

The regulator said the violations took place between 2019-2022.

The business was controlled by Swiss luxury group Richemont until last year, when it sold a majority stake to luxury e-commerce specialist Farfetch and Dubai Mall developer Mohamed Alabbar.

($1 = 0.9229 euros)

(Reporting by Alvise ArmelliniEditing by David Goodman and Gavin Jones)