Sports Direct shares dive after profit warning
- Published
(Close): Shares in Sports Direct dived after it said its profits would be lower than expected, leading the FTSE 100 down.
The FTSE 100 closed down 0.7% at 5,912.44 after initially being bolstered by strong US jobs figures.
The stats showed 292,000 jobs were created last month in the US, beating expectations.
However, shares in Sports Direct dived nearly 15% to 436.80p after it warned on profits.
The retailer said that since its interim results on 10 December, it had "seen a deterioration of trading conditions on the High Street and a continuation of the unseasonal weather over the key Christmas period".
It added that it also expected similar trading conditions between now and the end of April.
As a result, it says it is "no longer confident" that it will meet its full-year underlying earnings target of £420m, and now expects earnings to be between £380m and £420m.
Shares in Tesco were having a better day, rising 5.5% to 146.90p after Barclays upgraded its rating on the stock to "overweight" from "equal weight".
On the currency markets, the pound fell by 0.006 of a cent against the euro to €1.3314, but was down a cent against the dollar at $1.4519.