Slumps at Tesco and Unilever send UK's FTSE lower

* FTSE 100 down 1.1 pct

* Tesco (Xetra: 852647 - news) falls after cutting full-year profit outlook

* Unilever (NYSE: UL - news) drops after lower-than-expected sales

* Estate agency Foxtons also slumps

By Sudip Kar-Gupta

LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Britain's top equity index fell on Thursday, weighed down by a slump in the share prices of supermarket operator Tesco and consumer goods group Unilever.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which has recovered slightly after hitting 15-month lows last week, was down by 1.1 percent at 6,333.44 points in early session trading. The index has fallen by around 6 percent since the start of 2014.

Tesco was the worst-performing FTSE 100 stock in percentage terms.

Tesco fell 4.8 percent after it reported a bigger than expected hole in its accounts after finding that mistakes in booking income had gone back further than initially thought, forcing it to scrap its full-year profit outlook. The stock is down by around 50 percent since the start of 2014.

Tesco's woes also dragged down the shares of rival supermarket groups. WM Morrison fell 3.6 percent and Sainsbury retreated 3.4 percent.

"Tesco is not in a position to offer full year profit guidance and management states the need to create head room for the future. As such there is a further risk of earnings downgrades to our minds, with management demonstrably signalling that customers must come first," said Shore Capital analyst Darren Shirley.

FOXTONS FLOPS

Unilever also added to a gloomy tone on the corporate earnings front. Its shares fell by around 4 percent after it reported a weaker-than-expected 2.1 percent rise in third-quarter sales as a slowdown in emerging markets continued to crimp its performance.

Property agency Foxtons, which is listed on the mid-cap FTSE 250 index, also slumped by 19 percent after the company said its core earnings would fall due to a sharp drop in demand in the London property market.

The FTSE 100 hit a peak of 6,904.86 points at the start of September, its highest level since early 2000.

However, it has since lost ground and fell to 15-month lows last week, as weak European economic data has knocked back European stock markets, with data on Thursday showing that a business downturn in France worsened in October.

"The volatility and uncertainty is here to stay, and we'd look to sell into strength on the FTSE," said Central Markets trading analyst Joe Neighbour.

(Editing by Andrew Heavens)