MySale shares plunge by more than 50% after profits warning. £29m wiped off paper value of flash-sale site part-owned by Philip Green and Mike Ashley. Mysale Group (MYSL), the online flash-sale retailer part-owned by retail tycoons Sir Philip Green and Mike Ashley, issued an unexpected profits warning on Tuesday, prompting a plunge in the shares that wiped out half the company’s market value. In an unscheduled trading update, MySale said it expected revenue and profits for the year to 30 June 2019 to be significantly below market expectations, blaming “challenging conditions” in the run-up to Christmas. Shares in the Australia-focused but UK-listed firm plunged by 54% to 17.9p, wiping £29m off the value of the company.
WPP advertising group to cut 3,500 jobs in £300m restructuring. Firm to shut or merge almost 200 offices worldwide months after Martin Sorrell’s exit. WPP (WPP) is to cut 3,500 jobs worldwide and shut or merge almost 200 offices as the embattled advertising group seeks to restructure after a torrid year that included the exit of its founder and chief executive, Sir Martin Sorrell. The restructuring, which will be revealed in full at a lengthy analyst and investor presentation on Tuesday, will include shutting 80 offices globally and combining operations of a further 100 in locations where business is slow. The company is to cut 3,500 of its 134,000 global workforce but would not say how many roles or offices would be affected in the UK. It has 400 ad businesses in more than 3,000 offices in 112 countries.
Co-founder takes a swipe at Superdry (SDRY) business model. Julian Dunkerton steps up campaign to return to fashion retailer he quit this year. The Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton has stepped up his campaign to return to the fashion retailer by voicing his concerns over the company’s direction in a City stockbroker note. In an unusual intervention, Dunkerton criticised the firm’s business model in comments to the Liberum analyst Wayne Brown, a former head of investor relations at Superdry. The retail entrepreneur states in the Liberum note that he quit the company’s board in March because he could not “put his name to the strategy”. Dunkerton told Liberum: “The interaction between stores and the internet is going to be so fundamental to the future of retail. Consumers have adopted the internet and, by doing so, have moved away from the limitations of the high street and towards a world of unlimited choice. The premise here is if one does not participate in this world you will get left behind.”