SHEIN SHARES FALL TO RECORD LOW AFTER PROFIT SLUMP

Shares in Shein fell to a record low after the Chinese fast-fashion company published its first results since listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September, according to the company's results statement. Second-quarter profit fell 66% year-on-year to £173 million, the company reported. Shares dropped as much as 14% following the announcement, one report said, while another put the fall at up to 8.6%. The stock has lost close to 40% of its value since the listing, according to the figures reported. Shein, which is based in Singapore, said fallout from the war in Iran and new import duties imposed by the United States and European Union on low-cost Chinese goods had driven the decline.

Shein's chairman and founder, Xu Yangtian, said the slump was "primarily driven by a sharp spike in oil prices and freight rates amid Middle East geopolitical tensions". A separate account of the results reported that first-half operating income had fallen 53% compared with the previous year, a different measure from the quarterly profit figure the company disclosed. Washington and Brussels have both tightened rules this year on cheap goods imported from Chinese online retailers, according to the report. The 1 September Hong Kong listing marked Shein's debut as a public company, and these results gave investors their first look at its financial performance since then.

Xu said "the external environment will remain uncertain in the second half of 2026", according to the company's statement. Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said Shein had "taken another stumble on the global retail catwalk". Both comments point to continued pressure on the company from geopolitical tensions and trade measures affecting its shipping costs and supply chain. Neither the company nor the analyst quoted gave a timeframe for when conditions might stabilise. No further financial guidance beyond the second half of 2026 was reported.