Shares in Luminar fell more than 13 per cent yesterday after the nightclub operator issued a profit warning.
The group, down 6½p to 41p, blamed the rising level of youth unemployment and extreme weather conditions for its poor performance, which will result in full-year pre-tax profits missing market expectations.
Like-for-like sales in December were down 13.8 per cent compared with the previous year and are down 8.1 per cent for the financial year so far. However, Luminar did note that it had enjoyed better nights on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
City analysts also warned that the recent snow would put further pressure on the business, with KBC saying that it could hit trading profits by £1 million. A report in The Times that the group was in talks with HMV about a joint venture were confirmed by the retailer.
Jarvis rose 1½p to 17½p after the rail services group won at least £55 million worth of infrastructure work.
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Alexon fell 2p to 37½p after the retailer said that its full-year results would miss City forecasts because of the bad weather.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum gained 2¾p to 100¾p after the oil and gas explorer said that there was more oil at its Shaikan-1 well in the Kurdish region of Iraq than it had originally thought.
Bloomsbury Publishing was unchanged at 130p despite an upbeat trading statement.
Lupus Capital soared 6¾p to 66¼p after it appointed Louis Eperjesi as its new chief executive.
GCM Resources was up 15¼p at 110p amid further speculation that the miner with interests in Bangladesh was about to get the green light for a project there.