By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Supermarket chain Tesco tumbled on
Friday after issuing a profit warning, capping gains for the FTSE
100, which posted its first monthly gain since May.
Tesco shares (TSCDY) slumped 6.6% after the company warned on
profit for the third time in three years, saying it will slash its
interim dividend and reduce capital expenditure as it battles with
fierce competition.
The company -- which is the U.K.'s largest retailer -- now
expects full-year trading profit in the range of 2.4 billion pounds
($3.98 billion) to GBP2.5 billion.
"We have now lost count of the number of times that we have
downgraded our forecasts for Tesco over the last three years or
so," analysts at Shore Capital said in a note.
Other supermarket chains were hit by the downbeat Tesco news,
with shares of J Sainsbury PLC 4.4% lower, Wm Morrison Supermarkets
PLC off 5% and Marks & Spencer Group PLC down 1.9%.
More broadly in London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.2% to close at
6,819.75, partly recovering from a 0.4% decline on Thursday that
was spurred by renewed tensions in Ukraine. For August, the index
posted a 1.3% gain, its first monthly advance since May.
Among stocks climbing on Friday, miners staged a rebound after
sharp losses on Thursday. Shares of Anglo American PLC gained 1.2%
and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) picked up 0.9%.
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