Matthew Clark

Booze giant Conviviality PLC has suspended its shares from AIM “pending an announcement”. 

The Bargain Booze and Matthew Clark owner’s shares have crashed by around two thirds since last Thursday, after it issued a surprise profit warning that a “material error” in its financial forecasting meant earnings for the current year would be some 20% less than expected. 

The business issued a second update yesterday confirming its adjusted full-year EBITDA would come in at between £55.3m and £56.4m. It had originally forecast between £69.1m to £70.5m

So far it has had over £350m wiped from its value. 

Since its half-year results on 29 January senior executives have bought roughly £750k worth of shares as a show of faith in the company. 

However, their purchases appear to have failed to restore the City’s confidence: the company’s shares closed at 101p yesterday - just 1p higher than the 100p it originally floated for in 2013. In November 2017, they were trading at an all-time high of more than 420p.

Read more: two-thirds wipe off value of Conviviality after shock profits warning