Retailer’s shares stage partial recovery after 55% drop

Shares in retailer Joules have staged a partial recovery after investors sought to profit from a fumbled trading update last week.

The Leicestershire-based company issued a profit warning on February 1, and said it was “completing its going concern analysis”. The trading update sent its share price down 55% over two days’ trading.

However a more optimistic picture was painted on Tuesday, when Joules published its interim results. Its share price rose 21% on Thursday, and is now up 50% in three days.

Last night’s close of 80p was still nearly one-third below its 118p close on January 31.

Speaking last week, Joules chief executive Nick Jones said: “Whilst the group experienced strong levels of customer demand that resulted in good revenue growth against the prior two comparative periods, group profitability in the first half was impacted by various factors, most notably the severe inflationary cost environment.

“We have a clear plan of action to simplify the business, enhance efficiencies and mitigate the cost pressures that will enable the group to convert the strong levels of customer demand into sustainable, profitable growth.”

Joules has endured a turbulent few months on the markets. From a peak of 310p last summer, its share price lost more than 80% of its value to fall below its lowest point during the market turbulence of the first lockdown in 2020.

Its share price performance hasn’t been helped by investor Blackrock exiting its position. The global investor held a 12% stake in December – which was then worth £26m – but now holds less than 5% in a company with a total market value of £90m.