The main object of this paper is to introduce and investigate various properties and characteristics of a unified class P(α,β,σ), of prestarlike functions with negative coefficients. The results presented here involve distortion inequalities and modified Hadamard products (or convolution) of functions belonging to the class P(α,β,σ). Growth and distortion theorems involving fractional integrals and fractional derivatives are also considered. Relevant connections of some of these results with those given in earlier works are briefly pointed out.