Shares of Gome Electrical Appliances, China’s number two home appliance retailer which is backed by private equity firm Bain Capital, tumbled more than 17 percent to a record low on Wednesday after it became the latest consumer-related company to warn of weak profits.
Gome and bigger rival Suning, seen by some as China’s answer to Best Buy, have joined a host of companies ranging from a steelmaker to the country’s biggest airline to report or flag weak earnings as growth in the world’s second biggest economy slows.
Gome said on Tuesday it would post a net loss for the first half of 2012 due to a drop in sales and losses attributable to its e-commerce business.
(Source: CNBC)