Today was a down day for the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO), which lost 0.3% to 5,497 points – still some 3% below its 2016 highs.
A number of shares fell substantially further however, and here's why:
Asaleo Care Ltd (ASX: AHY) crashed 29% to $1.52 after a disastrous earnings update and half-yearly report from the company sent investors fleeing for the exits. Management announced a 17% decline in underlying net profit on the back of competitive pressures and higher input costs, neither of which is good for a company in Asaleo's position. Asaleo was also fully priced given its growth prospects (limited), which unfortunately left recent buyers without a margin of safety when business conditions deteriorated.
Asaleo Care shares are down 12% in the past 12 months.
Reffind Ltd (ASX: RFN) dropped 20% to $0.097 after today's surprise resignation of Managing Director and founder Jamie Pride, as well as the resignation of his alternate director three days ago. No explanation was given for the sudden departure and worse, the announcement was marked as non-market sensitive, which I believe is a grossly inaccurate designation, as the share price falls indicate. For a company with barely any revenues a founding Managing Director can be the driving force behind the whole show and today's departure without any explanation will be an item of concern for shareholders.
Reffind shares are down 80% in the past 12 months.
Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL) lost 3% to $8.85
Coca-Cola Amatil shares are down 2% on no news today, after a strong run from just above $8 at the start of July to $9.15 earlier this week. I continue to believe that the market is not sure what value to assign to Amatil, with mixed performance in its business divisions (some improving, some not) making it difficult to decide where the company is heading. As I wrote in this article, I remain comfortable holding my shares but it's likely to be a long haul for shareholders.
Amatil shares are down 2% in the past 12 months.
1-Page Ltd (ASX: 1PG) fell 6% to $0.445 on no news today, possibly in sympathy with a number of other technology companies like Reffind (above) and iCar Asia Ltd (ASX: ICQ). Now worth $50 million instead of $500 million, 1-Page is a much more interesting investment prospect – even if the hype has ended. 1-page has $41 million cash in the bank and continues to see levels of customer retention around 90%, which could be the foundation for building a profitable business if new customers can be added and upsold. With ongoing heavy cash outflows however, 1-Page remains a speculative investment.
1-Page shares are down 82% in the past 12 months.
