THG's full-year core earnings miss warning sends shares to record low

(Reuters) -British e-commerce group THG said on Thursday it expects annual core earnings to fall short of analysts' expectations on higher commodity prices, sending its shares down 10% to a record low.

Adjusted core earnings for the six months ended June for the company, which also has beauty and nutrition units, slumped 60% to 32.3 million pounds.

"Supporting our consumers through 2022 has been offset through reducing 2023 capex ...," Chief Executive Officer Matthew Moulding said in a statement.

THG said it expects full-year adjusted core earnings to be between a range of 100 million pounds to 130 million pounds (($115.19 million - $149.75 million), compared with analysts' average forecast of 153.1 million pounds.

"The inability to precisely triangulate a base from which margins can rebuild remains an overhang," Jefferies analysts said in a note.

The group expects capital expenditure of about 5% of its revenue in 2023.

The company's shares, which have lost about 82% of their value this year, were trading down at 44 pence as of 0710 GMT.

($1 = 0.8681 pounds)

(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sriraj Kalluvila)