Today was another totally ordinary day for the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO), with the index losing 0.2% to 4875 points.
The sometimes-savage cull that is reporting season is ongoing, and all four of today's fallers have been a victim:
Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) crashed 17% to $8.31 today, falling off a cliff after its half-year results revealed a 6% rise in revenue and a 34% increase in profit. Strong performance in the Sports and Auto division was offset by impairments and a decline in profit in its Leisure division, which appears to be what spooked shareholders. Management believes that a new store format as well as optimising product range and pricing can improve margins, and lift the profitability of this segment.
Super Retail shares are down 15% in the past 12 months.
IPH Ltd (ASX: IPH) lost 5% to $6.60, taking its loss for the week to 27% after a situation similar to Netcomm, below, where investors realised the company may not deliver the growth it is priced for. Shareholders jumped ship after IPH's results on Tuesday – IPH closed above $9 per share on Monday – although given the substantial falls since then the company could be moving closer to the buy zone. With no debt, a decent cash balance, and strong buyer interest until recently, an acquisition or two might light another fire under IPH shares.
IPH shares are up 50% in the past 12 months.
Netcomm Wireless Ltd (ASX: NTC) dropped 12% to $2.26, taking its total loss for the past week to 11% after a solid interim report that nevertheless left investors feeling cold. Despite rapid growth in revenue and profits as well as the prospect of further growth through expansion in the US, Netcomm shares are down some 40% from recent heights of $3.67. It seems investors realised that the future the company is priced for – at 60 times estimated full year earnings – may take a little longer to get here than they hoped.
Netcomm shares are up 418% in the past 12 months.
Admedus Ltd (ASX: AHZ) fell 8% to $0.52 today after the company released its interim results for the six months to 31 December 2015. While revenue rose 37%, the company's losses also widened as a result of increased investment in sales, marketing and Research & Development (R&D) expenses. The number of centres using Admedus' product rose by 50% to 135 in the past six months and this should drive higher revenues in the next half.
However, with such high cash outflows Admedus only appears to have enough cash for another 12 months of operation and this appears to be the primary driver behind the company's share price, which is down 50% in the past 12 months.
