Supermarket slump: Big names tumble on Morrisons profit warning

Shares in the UK's three main supermarket chains have tumbled today after Morrisons warned profits could halve this year and raised the prospect of sector-wide discounting.

Reporting a 13% fall in pre-tax profits, Morrisons said it would dispose of its £1bn property portfolio and other assets in order to focus on its core business, with shares falling as much as 10% as a result. By late morning the decline had left shares 7.5% lower at 215p, with Sainsbury equally hard hit: the retailer, which reports its own results next week, saw shares fall 7.3% to 308.9p. Tesco was the third largest faller in the FTSE, dropping 4.4% as investors fretted about the knock-on effects of Morrisons' warning that it will cut prices to compete with the likes of discount chai...