British retailer Iceland has put out its third profits warning, saying its pre-tax profits for the last 15 months will miss forecasts by £20 million sterling.
The announcement, made in its second interim results report of the year, rounds off a difficult few months in which its co-founder quit and profits have plummeted.
Profit forecasts for the frozen food group have been cut by nearly two-thirds since its new management announced a significant fall in sales in January.
In January the board warned that profit before tax and exceptionals would not exceed £62 million for the fifteen months to March 31.
This figure is now expected to be no more than £40 million, £5 million less than City forecasts, and the dividend is being skipped.
Like-for-like sales of Iceland Foods for the three months to March 31st are expected to be 3.7 per cent down.
In January, Mr Malcolm Walker resigned from the board of Iceland in the wake of his controversial sale of £13.5 million worth of shares in the company a month earlier. He said he had always intended to retire from his executive role with Iceland early in 2001.
PA