Debenhams Share News (DEB)

LONDON (Alliance News) - A continuation of the US-China tariff saga knocked London stocks on Tuesday at midday, with Ashtead also dragging on the FTSE 100 after the release of its annual results.Fears of a trade war also saw European equities trade in red on Tuesday, with the US called for a sharply lower open.The FTSE 100 index was down 0.4%, or 32.43 points, at 7,598.90 Tuesday midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 0.5%, or 100.56 points, at 20,899.04. The AIM All-Share index was down 0.5% at 1,095.57.The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 12,882.41, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.4% at 19,124.7, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 12,887.53.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 1.0% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 1.2% Tuesday midday.Stocks in New York are seen opening sharply lower, with the Dow Jones called down 1.4%, the S&P down 1.1% and the Nasdaq off 1.0%. "Risk assets are back under pressure as the US threatened with a second round of tariffs should China impose retaliatory tariffs in response to the first round of US tariffs," said analysts at ING.Beijing immediately vowed retaliation after US President Donald Trump late Monday said he would impose a 10% tariff on another USD200 billion worth of Chinese goods, in a further escalation of the trade row between the two countries.Last week, the US said it was imposing tariffs on USD50 billion worth of Chinese goods, with USD34 billion worth coming into force on July 6 and the rest later. Beijing immediately responded with an equivalent amount of tariffs on US goods also scheduled to begin coming into force next month.China's retaliatory tariffs were a clear indication of its "determination to keep the US at a permanent and unfair disadvantage", Trump said in his Monday statement.The Chinese Commerce Ministry accused the US of practising "extreme pressure and blackmail" and deviating from the "consensus reached by the two parties' many consultations".The US has "disappointed the international community very much," the ministry said. If the US became "irrational," China would have to take strong and comprehensive countermeasures, it added.In Asia on Tuesday, the Shanghai Composite Index ended 3.8% lower, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 2.8%."While it is likely to take time before the second round of tariffs is imposed (as was the case with the first round of tariffs, the proposal must go through the public consultation process), the pure signalling effect is negative for risk appetite. In such an environment, it is the risk assets linked to China that are likely to underperform," ING added.London-listed miners including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American were down 2.8%, 2.5% and 2.3% respectively on Tuesday following news of the further US tariffs on the world's largest steel producing country.Elsewhere on the London Stock Exchange, equipment rental company Ashtead was the worst performer in the FTSE 100, 6.2% lower despite posting double digit growth in profit and revenue for its recently ended financial year.Underlying pretax profit for its year ended April 30 rose by 16% to GBP862.1 million from GBP765.1 million the year before due to strong performance in its Sunbelt business, both in the US and Canada. Taking out the impact of amortisation and exceptional items, pretax profit was up 21% to GBP927.3 million from GBP793.4 million.This was on double digit revenue growth to GBP3.79 billion from GBP3.19 billion the prior year, as rental revenue rose by 20% to GBP3.41 billion from GBP2.90 billion. However, IG market analyst Joshua Mahony noted: "In the midst of the losses, Ashtead have trumped them all, with the rental group losing over 8%, with markets expectations over quite how much the firm will have benefitted from the Hurricane Harvey clean-up clearly sky high given the a 21% rise in sales. With the firm having gained over 20% for the year up until yesterday, there is likely to be a raft of investors seeing this as a buying opportunity within a positive long term story."DS Smith was down 3.2% at 532p after it said it will raise GBP1 billion via a rights issue of shares to part fund its previously announced GBP1.45 billion acquisition of European packaging business Papeles y Cartones de Europa, known as Europac.The packaging company intends to issue 293.1 million new shares pursuant to a 3-for-11 rights issue at 350 pence per new share. The issue price represents a 31% discount to the stock's closing price on Monday of 549.60p. The best performer in the large-cap index was Ferguson, up 2.3%. Revenue in the company's third quarter rose 10% to USD5.08 billion, while trading profit was up 17% to USD356 million.At the top of the FTSE 250 was outsourcer Capita, 8.0% higher after selling its supply chain management services business for GBP160 million in cash as part of a previously announced non-core asset disposal programme and simplification strategy.Capita also separately confirmed that it has been selected as the winning tenderer for the Defence Fire and Rescue Project by the UK Ministry of Defence.At the bottom of the index was McCarthy & Stone, languishing after releasing a profit warning and news of its chief executive's departure.McCarthy & Stone, down 15% at midday, said it has experienced a "noticeable decline in reservation rates" since April, and now expects operating profit for the year ending August to be between GBP65 million and GBP80 million, down from GBP96 million the previous year. Separately, the housebuilder said Chief Executive Clive Fenton will retire at the end of August.The news saw other London-listed housebuilders lower on Tuesday, with Persimmon 2.0% lower and Barratt Developments down 1.2%.It was also a poor day for retailers, as department store Debenhams and trainer retailer Footasylum both fell on profit warnings.Footasylum, tumbling 49%, warned of modest earnings growth in its new financial year due to weak consumer sentiment and an expected rise in capital expenditure and property costs."While our core target market of the 16 to 24-year-old consumer has proved to be comparatively resilient in a downturn, our trading since the beginning of the new financial year has undoubtedly been impacted by the widely documented weak consumer sentiment on the high street," Chief Executive Clare Nesbitt said. The company now expects a modest rise in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation for the year to February 2019. Adjusted Ebitda - the company's preferred profit measure - grew to GBP12.5 million in the year ended February 24, from GBP11.2 million in a year ago.Meanwhile, Debenhams lost 7.5% as it lowered its profit expectations for the current year for a third time.Debenhams expects pretax profit for the financial year ending September 2 to be in the range of GBP35 million to GBP40 million, down from the market consensus of GBP50.3 million and GBP59.0 million the year before."In 2013 Debenhams was posting pre-tax profits of over £150m a year, but half a decade of falling sales and heavy discounting has trashed margins and left the group struggling to make ends meet," commented Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown."CEO Sergio Bucher's recovery plan seems like the right idea [...] Unfortunately it all feels like Debenhams is playing catch up with an industry that's left it behind," Hyett added.Bucking Tuesday's trend, however, was women's clothing retailer Bonmarche, up 12%.For the year ended March, pretax profit grew 38% to GBP8.0 million from GBP5.8 million the year prior. This was despite revenue falling 2.2% to GBP186.0 million from GBP190.1 million the year before. Profit performance was helped by a fall in administrative expenses during the year. Administrative costs dropped 13% to GBP25.8 million from GBP29.6 million the year before.To come in the economic calendar on Tuesday are US housing starts at 1330 BST, with the Redbook index due at 1355 BST and API weekly crude oil stocks at 2130 BST.