Stock markets rarely have mercy on a growth stock that trips up and so it proved with SuperGroup, owner of the Superdry brand, which issued a profit warning on Wednesday.

The shares plunged after the group said profit for the year will be towards the lower end of market expectations as it experienced a challenging last three weeks in January.

"Following a solid Christmas trading period, which saw like-for-like retail sales of 9.3% in December, there has been a slowdown in the last three weeks of January," the group explained in a company statement.

Merchant Securities said "if consumer sentiment remains subdued, there is scope for the market to downgrade [SUpergroup's] 2013 estimates from profit before tax of £64m."

Though the broker downgraded the shares from "hold" to "sell", it believes the trendy clothing firm has the right strategy in place. The lower input prices in Autumn/Winter 2012/13 should benefit the group, analyst Amisha Chohan reckons.

Emergency repair group Homeserve also dived after saying that its recent travails that are still preventing the group from restarting some marketing operations. This, along with falling customer numbers, means that the group will make 200 lay-offs from its telesales department.

Financial software provider Misys also took a tumble after saying that its Chief Executive Officer Mike Lawrie has been tempted away with an "offer of employment from a third party".

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) also took a hit on the news it experienced a weakness in print advertising in the final three months of 2011, but said overall trading was in line with its expectations.

Underlying revenue during the quarter - the first of the company's fiscal year - rose 2% to £495m, boosted by a continued strengthening in its digital offerings.

Peel Hunt moved its recommendation from "hold" to "sell" after the trading update.

"Once again, a solid B2B [business-to-business] performance has compensated for a difficult consumer media environment, but we see little in the statement to prompt us to change our forecasts (in either direction)," the broker said.

"Following the recent strong run in the shares, our 409p price target has been exceeded and we move from Hold to Sell as a result," Peel Hunt disclosed.

Meanwhile, specialist home-wares retailer Dunelm rose higher after it reported a 7.8% rise in pre-tax profit for the half year ended December 31st. As expected, profits for the year came in at £52.2m, compared to £48.4m the same period the previous year, on revenues of £299.9m, up 8.8% compared to the year before (2010: £275.7m).

In contrast to its position on DMGT, Peel Hunt is staying bullish on Dunelm.

"With cash balances at c£50m, the statement flags the opportunity for a special dividend, likely to be announced at the final results in September. With strong growth opportunities from store openings online and direct sourcing, we reiterate our Buy stance," Peel Hunt's John Stevenson revealed.


FTSE 250 - Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 113.70p +7.87%
Kesa Electricals (KESA) 74.15p +5.55%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 456.40p +4.39%
Henderson Group (HGG) 124.90p +3.22%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 212.10p +2.71%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 537.00p +2.68%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 820.00p +2.63%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 481.80p +2.53%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 339.50p +2.26%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 164.00p +2.18%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Supergroup (SGP) 576.00p -17.71%
Homeserve (HSV) 245.60p -10.69%
Misys (MSY) 302.10p -7.36%
Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 443.30p -4.13%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 234.90p -3.57%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 115.10p -3.11%
Carpetright (CPR) 581.50p -3.08%
UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 73.60p -2.84%
WH Smith (SMWH) 516.50p -2.82%
Persimmon (PSN) 545.00p -2.77%

Related share prices
Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) share price
Misys (MSY) share price
Homeserve (HSV) share price
Dunelm Group (DNLM) share price
Supergroup (SGP) share price