INVESTORS PUT THE BOOT INTO FOOTASYLUM SHARES

SHARES in sportswear retailer Footasylum plunged 51pc yesterday after it issued its second profits warning in less than three months.

The fall comes less than a year after its debut on the London Stock Exchange in November, when it was valued at £171m. Last night the firm, headed by 31-year-old Clare Nesbitt ( pictured), the youngest boss of a UK listed company, was worth £42.7m as shares hit 40.9p, down 43.1p.

Footasylum was founded in 2005 by Nesbitt’s father David Makin and his colleague John Wardle, the duo behind JD Sports. It blamed tough conditions on the High Street as it revealed this year’s profits will come in at less than half the £12.5m it made for the year to February 2018.

Sales and profit margins are expected to be squeezed after it was forced to slash prices to shift stock.

Analysts were scathing of Footasylum’s latest update, with Peel Hunt saying there was ‘no reason to own the shares’. And retail analyst Nick Bubb claimed that ‘investors were sold a pup’ when the firm joined the stock market last year.