The Australian sharemarket has managed to rise higher for the fourth straight session today, despite a rather slow start this morning. Late in the afternoon, the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) was hovering 0.3% higher, just above the 5700 point mark, led higher once again by the nation's biggest banks.
However, a number of companies have failed to fire today and are trading heavily in the red, including these four…
FlexiGroup Limited (ASX: FXL) has lost another 6.6% today after being dumped 7% on Tuesday. The diversified financial services group, which boasts a market value of nearly $1 billion, yesterday announced the shock resignation of its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Tarek Robbiati. It's likely that investors are weighing up the company's prospects without him at the wheel. At $2.98 per share, FlexiGroup is certainly one worth your attention.
Lynas Corporation Limited (ASX: LYC) has fallen 8.3% to a fresh low of just 3.3 cents today, down a massive 85% since July 2014. In case you couldn't tell from the stock's performance, Lynas has been a constant disappointment for investors and analysts, and that doesn't look like changing anytime soon. Lynas has enormous cash flow issues and could well need to tap the market for more funds at some point in the near future.
IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL) has had its name dragged through the mud recently after the Fairfax Media reported serious misconduct issues at the business. Although the company is adamant these issues are historic in nature, it has engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers to immediately commence an independent review of IOOF's regulatory breaches. The financial services provider's shares have also been punished, falling 14.2% this week and 3.5% today alone.
SEEK Limited (ASX: SEK) has extended its decline, falling 3.9% to a new 16-month low of $13.97. The stock traded as high as $16.90 on Friday but has since plummeted in price following an earnings downgrade by management, which it blamed on 'one off issues' in its SEEK Learning division. Although SEEK could be a reasonable bet for long-term investors, I believe there are more appealing alternatives currently presenting themselves.
