Kathmandu Holdings' shares fell about 15% in value yesterday on New Zealand and Australian sharemarkets after the retailer failed to meet prospectus forecasts.
In Australia, 2.4 million shares had traded by 4pm, nearly 10 times the normal daily trading.
The outdoor and equipment retailer announced in a trading update consolidated sales for the year ending July were up 13.9% to $245.5 million, but its expected earnings before interest and tax were lower than forecast.
Sales from all stores were $5.5 million more than the forecast issued by the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer at the time of its initial public offering (IPO) last October.
However, Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said full-year earnings for the 2010 year were expected to be between $47 millon and $48 million, below the $51 million forecast.
The company also pointed to a challenging retail environment being a contributor to negative same-store sales for the latest six months and reduced margins for the prospectus forecast.
Kathmandu said sales in New Zealand were up $9 million, or 10.6%, from last year, to $94.1 million.
In Australia, sales rose 14.3% to $A113.3 million ($NZ141 million), and in the United Kingdom sales went up 18.6% to 4.3 million ($NZ9.3 million).
Kathmandu has opened 14 permanent new stores, four in New Zealand and 10 in Australia, in the June 2009-10 year, compared with the expected 12 stores stated previously.
