Health and beauty chain Boots highlighted further pain for the retail sector today after it warned annual profits would fall below City hopes.
The group said it had been braced for a subdued market but that trading since its last update in January had “deteriorated further”.
Boots now expects annual operating profits for its core Boots the Chemists chain to be in the range of £465m (€676.9m) and £475m (€691.5m), compared with the £490m (€713.3m) and £500m (€727.9m) previously forecast by analysts.