The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is on course to end its winning streak and is down 0.5% to 6,029 points in afternoon trade.
Four shares that have weighed heavily on the index today are listed below. Here's why they have tumbled lower:
The Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) share price has fallen 4% to $7.02 following the release of its half-year results. Although the result was largely in line with expectations, I suspect some investors had been forecasting an outperformance judging by its strong share price gain in the run up to the release.
The Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) share price has plunged 14% lower to $3.94. This morning the retailer reported a 19% fall in half-year net profit after tax to $208 million. Harvey Norman also cut its dividend by 14% to 12 cents per share. In addition to this, the perplexing dairy farm joint venture hasn't gone well. The company has made a $21 million impairment on the joint venture on top of its $4.5 million operating loss.
The Ramsay Health Care Limited (ASX: RHC) share price is down 5% to $64.49 after the private hospital operator's half-year results fell short of expectations. While Ramsay's local operations performed well, its UK and France based operations weighed heavily on its results. I was disappointed with Ramsay's result and would class it as a hold now.
The Vita Group Limited (ASX: VTG) share price has fallen 7.5% to $1.56. This morning the retail company posted a 48% drop in half-year profit to $11.2 million. It also sliced its dividend in half to 4.7 cents per share. While the fall in profits was expected, I suspect shareholders had been hopeful that its dividend cut would have been less severe. Despite its sizeable decline today and over the last 12 months, I don't think Vita is particularly cheap and would suggest investors avoid it.
