In a closely watched case, shareholders have won the first class-action lawsuit to go all the way to judgment in Australia. But they are unlikely to recover any damages because the markets did not believe inflated profit forecasts made by the company’s chief executive.

In the decision handed down on Thursday, a federal judge found that retailer Myer engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct following a 2014 profit forecast, but ruled against the shareholder class because he said he was not convinced that investors suffered a loss.