By Emma Thomasson and Matthias Inverardi
BERLIN (Reuters) - Ceconomy (DE:CECG), Europe's biggest consumer electronics retailer, said it expects profits to fall again in 2018/19 as it tries to find new top managers and faces competition online, sending its shares tumbling 13 percent to a record low.
Ceconomy's warning is the latest blow to a retail sector reeling in the days before Christmas.
It comes after British online fashion retailers ASOS (LON:ASOS) triggered a sell-off in stocks around the world on Monday when it raised concerns about sagging trading spreading from stores to ecommerce players.
Ceconomy, which runs more than 1,000 Media Markt and Saturn stores in countries across Europe, expects operating profit to decline slightly in 2018/19, while sales adjusted for currency and portfolio changes should rise slightly.
Ceconomy had sought to better integrate its stores and its online offering, and also sell more services, like fixing and installing electronic devices, as it seeks to differentiate itself from ecommerce players like Amazon (O:AMZN).
"We expect the retail and consumer electronics environment to remain challenging in the year to come," Ceconomy's outgoing finance chief Mark Frese said in a statement.
The outlook does not include potential expenses from the reorganisation of the company, nor the costs resulting from changes in top management.
Frese told analysts that the company would probably need longer to reach medium-term margin targets it set last year.
Ceconomy, which had already reported that sales in its fiscal fourth quarter were hit by unseasonably warm weather, said net profit in the period fell 28 percent to 84 million euros (76 million pounds) and said it would not pay a dividend.
Ceconomy said on Tuesday it has appointed Bernhard Duettmann, currently a member of the supervisory board, as interim finance chief to replace Frese as of Jan. 1, while its search for a permanent CFO and CEO was ongoing.
Ceconomy, which has seen its business stagnate as sales of consumer electronics have shifted online, said in October that CEO Pieter Haas was leaving after a string of profit warnings.
Ceconomy said it planned to accelerate its strategy to offer more services and expects to cut costs to free up funds to invest in technology and logistics.
It also plans to streamline and centralise the organisation, particularly in supply chain management and purchasing.