The management of Cettire is battling to convince a sceptical market that the luxury fashion retailer is paying appropriate customs duties, telling investors that it had a direct, previously undisclosed, arrangement with the federal government.

In a hastily arranged call with more than 100 investors on Wednesday afternoon, Cettire chief executive Dean Mintz and the company’s chief financial officer, Tim Hume, said discrepancies between estimates of duties and the amount of money actually paid were common, adding that this was not material to the retailer’s reported revenues.