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(Reuters) - Premier Farnell Plc, a distributor of small electronics and electronic parts, warned that full-year operating margins would be slightly below prior year levels as it experienced softer trading conditions in Asia and Europe.
Shares in the FTSE-250 company fell nearly 10 percent to their lowest since June 2012. The stock was one of the top percentage losers on the London Stock Exchange.
Premier Farnell said gross margins fell 0.5 percentage points, or 50 basis points, hurt by softer market conditions in Asia and Europe as well as the mix of business.
"We see 'slightly' as down 20-30 basis points," RBC Capital Markets analyst David Greenall said.
Premier Farnell reported operating margins of 9.6 percent in the year ended Feb. 2, 2014.
"Management stresses that this is due to geographical (slower growth in high-margin Asia Pacific and acceleration in low-margin North America) and product mix rather than the customer discounts mentioned by Electrocomponents yesterday," Jefferies analysts said in a note.
Rival firm Electrocomponents Plc said on Thursday that its gross margins had declined by 0.7 percentage points, hurt mainly by increased discounting in the UK and Asia Pacific.
Electrocomponent shares extended Thursday's 12 percent fall and were down 4.5 percent at a year-low on Friday.
Analyst Greenall indicated a "neutral" sentiment on Premier Farnell's stock, while his sentiment on Electrocomponents was "negative".
Premier Farnell reported a 2.7 percent rise in sales per day in the third quarter, reflecting a lower contribution from its industrial products business compared with an "exceptionally" strong period last year.
Sales in Akron Brass, its industrial products division, fell 5.8 percent. The company had a major contract win from Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd in the second half of last year.
Premier Farnell, which started out as a radio parts seller in 1939, said Asia-Pacific sales excluding the contribution of the credit card-sized computer Raspberry Pi grew 13.1 percent in the quarter. Europe revenue excluding Raspberry Pi sales rose 1.6 percent during the period.
Sales growth was based on sales per day for continuing businesses at constant exchange rates and for like periods, it said.
Share in Premier Farnell were down 9 percent at 163.6 pence at 0849 GMT.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)