Luxury kitchen and furniture store John Lewis of Hungerford (LON:JLH) watched shares drop nearly 11% on Friday as it swung to a loss for the year to end August from a profit.
Following a strong first quarter, the group suffered a series of unplanned staffing changes, including the resignations of two experienced designers, it said.
The search for replacements came at the expense of the growth plan, the firm said, although it is confident it will return to profitable growth.
It has given up on its previous target of growing turnover to £10mln with a 5% operating profit by the end of the 2016 year.
The loss before tax was £153,827 compared to a previous profit of £59,740 on turnover of £7.8mln (2014: £7.4mln).
No dividend was recommended.
Shares lost 10.91% to stand at 1.225p on the day.