Danish jewellery maker Pandora is to cut almost 400 jobs, after warning that full-year sales will be lower than expected.
Shares were trading down by almost 20% in Copenhagen at 11:45 BST, the lowest level since May 2014.
Pandora has suffered as less people visit shopping centres, especially in its key US market.
Known for its charm bracelets, Pandora is the world’s largest jeweller by production volume.
Pandora owns nearly 2,600 stores worldwide, but sales have dipped in its 600-plus stores in the UK and the US.
A statement said the company intends to cut 397 of its 27,000 employees, as it expects sales will increase by between 4-7% this year, compared with the 7-10% it previously projected.
Over half of the cuts will be made to its Thai workforce, with 218 staff members to leave the team.
Pandora manufactures its jewellery across two factories in Bangkok and Lamphun, near Chiang Mai, where it employs roughly 13,000 people.
It was founded in 1989 by Per Enevoldsen and his then wife Winnie.
Profit warning
Søren Hansen, senior analyst at Danish bank Sydbank, said this was a “large” profit warning, suggesting that – with various factors accounted for – “underlying sales are actually declining”.
“Consumer behaviour is changing and retailers need to strike the right balance between physical and online stores,” Mr Hansen added.
The company also cited “a headwind from currencies”, suggesting it has also lost out due to a weaker exchange rate for the Danish kroner.
Meanwhile, the firm is ramping up plans for new concept store openings in 2018 to 250 – 50 more than expected.
It said that 50% of the shops will be opened in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with the remainder split between the Americas and Asia Pacific.
Pandora is due to publish its full second quarter results on Thursday.
