Carpetright shares have crashed by nearly half after the retailer issued a shock profit warning and blamed a reduction in consumer confidence for sales cratering.

The flooring chain’s grim update dragged its stock down by as much as 45pc to 90p and knocked shares in other furniture and DIY groups lower as spooked investors fretted that consumers may be delaying spending on big-ticket items.

Shares in B&Q owner Kingfisher fell 3.5pc to 331.3p, sofa retailer DFS lost 3.8pc to 198.2p, and smaller rival SCS dropped 4.9pc to 212p in mid-morning trading.

Carpetright’s second profit warning in less than two months is particularly painful for investors who had already been told in December to lower their profit expectations.