The Dusk Group Ltd (ASX: DSK) share price is tumbling today, down 15.5%.
Shares in home fragrance product retailer closed yesterday trading for $1.52. Shares are currently swapping hands at $1.28 apiece representing a new all-time low.
ASX investors look to be hitting the sell button on the back of a trading update released by the company this morning.
What are ASX investors considering?
The Dusk share price is sliding after the company provided some underwhelming guidance for the full 2023 financial year (FY23).
Management said that with 45 weeks of FY23 having passed – including key trading for the company around Mother's Day – they decided to provide that guidance today.
The sales and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) forecasts are based on unaudited management accounts to the end of April 2023.
On the sales front, Dusk is forecasting FY23 sales to fall between $135 million and $137 million. FY22 sales came in at $138.4 million.
The Dusk share price is also likely under pressure with the company expecting pro forma EBIT for FY23 to gall in the range of $16 million to $17 million. That's well down from the EBIT of $26.5 million in FY22.
As for the gross margin rate, management expects FY23 will be similar to last year.
Commenting on the results sending the Dusk share price sliding today, CEO Peter King said:
Trading conditions in the second half of FY23 have been impacted by an increasingly cautious consumer environment, driven by higher interest rates and mounting cost of living pressures impacting the disposable income levels of our core customer.
King noted that the key Mother's Day period was "softer than anticipated" for sales.
He also highlighted the company's ongoing growth plans. With new stores continuing to open in the second half of the financial year, Dusk will end FY23 with 145 stores, up from 132 stores at the end of FY22.
"The performance of these new stores as a group is in line with expectations," King said.
Dusk share price snapshot
The Dusk share price has underperformed over the past 12 months, sinking a precipitous 34%. For some context, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 2% over the full year.
