Debenhams (LON:DEB) became the latest department store to issue a profit warning on Tuesday, joining the legions of high street chains suffering from the competitive climate.

Debenhams warned investors that it would likely miss full-year expectations, after weakness in key markets weighed on performance over the last couple of months.

“We have reassessed our expectations for the balance of the year and now expect pre-tax profit for FY2018 to be in the range of £35 million -£40 million, with EBITDA in the range £160-£165 million,” the company said.

This is well below the current profit before tax market consensus of £50.3 million, after group gross transaction value fell 1.5 percent over the 15 weeks to the 16th June. Like-for-like sales fell by 2.2 percent.

“It is well-documented that these are exceptionally difficult times in UK retail, and our trading performance in this quarter reflects that,” said Sergio Bucher, CEO.

“We don’t see these conditions changing in the near future and, because it is our priority to maintain a robust balance sheet, we are making very careful choices about how we deploy capital.”

Debenhams shares are currently trading down 10.36 percent at 17.57 (0844GMT).