Billionaire retail tycoons Mike Ashley and Sir Philip Green were on Tuesday left nursing millions of pounds worth of paper losses after MySale, the online fashion retailer they back, issued a profit warning.
AIM-listed MySale said tax changes in Australia, and the disruption that caused in the online market, led to more discounting amid higher competition in the second quarter.
It expects full-year profits and revenues to come in “significantly” below the A$15 million (£8.5 million) and $295 million analysts had been expecting.
Boss Carl Jackson called it a “short-term dip” and plans are under way to reduce costs.
The shares fell 15.65p, or more than 45%, to 19p.
Shelton Capital, Green’s wife’s investment vehicle, saw the value of its stake fall £5 million to £6.3 million, and Sports Direct’s was down more than £1 million to £1.4 million.
Zeus Capital analyst John Wilson said: “This trading update is clearly a large setback for MySale, having delivered multiple periods of growth and improvement in profitability.”
