Joules shares crashed spectacularly in Friday trading, tumbling a painful 37.2% to 27.5p as the fashion company fell victim to a range of factors, including poor demand linked to hot weather and the soaring cost of living.

The group said it expected a “significant loss” in HY1 2022, alongside a FY 2022 profit “significantly below” expectations, marking the high street darling as the latest casualty in the retail bloodbath.

The cost of living crisis has been making itself felt in recent months, with 10.1% inflation levels chilling customer spending as it bites chunks out of wallets and pumps the brakes on sales across the retail sector.

Meanwhile, the remarkable surge in hot weather over the summer punched a sizeable dent in demand for Joules’ key categories such as rainwear, knitwear, outerwear and wellies, all staples of a typical, far colder season across the country.

The cherry on top of the sadness sundae for Joules has been its slowdown in its Garden Trading business, which it acquired in February 2021 and drove a 14% year-on-year e-commerce sales rise for the company in HY1 last year.

Joules shares picked up on the release of its HY1 2022 results in February this year, with interest piqued in part by its fresh collaborations with high street fashion giant Next.

The two companies launched a Joules formal wear collection, which had been well received, along with a Next nursery product range scheduled for launch in HY2.

Joules also evolved Next’s Platform Plus model as part of its slate of third party partnerships, allowing for higher levels of product flexibility and inclusion on Next.com.

The two companies confirmed on 7 August that talks were in progress for Next to acquire an equity stake in Joules, sending Joules shares from 38p to 44p on the day of the announcement.

However, with no fresh reports since early August and no concrete proposals to help salvage the company from its current wreckage, Joules’ share price plummeted down to its present level.

Joules shares are currently languishing at a miserable 81% slump year-to-date, and unfortunately their future isn’t looking bright.

The retail group hasn’t issued a dividend since 2019, choosing to focus on its balance sheet and rebuilding financial strength.

However, with demand tumbling and the UK on the brink of a recession, it looks like grim times ahead for the fashion group, with no sign of near-term recovery in sight.

Joules shares currently have a PE ratio of 11.3 and a forward PE ratio of 32.2, reflecting expectations of severely malnourished earnings and little hope on the horizon of shareholder rewards.

Joules shares have sunk to extremely low depths, and they could well stay for there for quite some time, failing any major new developments at the company.