TheWorks.co.uk PLC (LON:WRKS) was on the back foot as the retailer issued a profit warning after a weak start to the year.
The company, which sells toys, games, book and arts and craft items, said like-for-like sales had softened since the turn of the new year due to “economic and political uncertainty in the UK”.
READ: TheWorks.co.uk shrugs off retail gloom with strong Christmas
It now expects adjusted pre-tax profit to be at the lower end of market expectations.
Revenue in the year to April 28 rose 13.2% compared to a year ago and like-for-like sales increased 3.0%, driven by a strong performance from its click and collect service.
"Overall, we have had a successful year as we continued to expand our store footprint and online proposition and introduce new customers to The Works,” said chief executive Kevin Keaney.
“We achieved another record Christmas, solid like-for-like sales growth and further cash margin improvement in the year. “
He added: "Notwithstanding the more uncertain backdrop since January, the business has multiple growth levers and we remain confident in the future prospects for The Works."
Shares plummeted 19% to 96p in late morning trading.
Investec analysts said: "Today’s FY trading update shows there has been a slowdown towards year end impacted by the general weak consumer environment, with Easter, we suspect, suffering from the hot weather.
"In-line with management guidance, we downgrade FY19 estimates for pre-tax profit by 8%."
They repeated a 'buy' rating, however, saying that while a downgrade was "disappointing, the attractive long term roll-out story is still intact and not reflected in valuation, we believe".