Carl Zeiss Meditec AG shares slumped in early European trading after the German optical technology firm issued a stark profit warning. The company stated its fiscal first-quarter earnings would be "clearly below" the previous year and that its full-year guidance "will likely not be achieved."

Preliminary quarterly revenue fell to 467 million euros from 490 million euros a year prior, with operating profit plummeting to 8 million euros from 35 million euros. The Jena-based firm, known for eye examination tools and medical lasers, cited negative currency effects and a softer start to the new fiscal year.

The outlook is clouded by a new volume-based procurement tender in China for its bifocal intraocular business, which the company expects will cause "significant price erosion." Carl Zeiss Meditec also pointed to a delayed seasonal peak for refractive treatments in China and a weak investment environment in the Americas due to geopolitical tensions.