The S&P / ASX200 (ASX: XJO) has tumbled 1.9% to a 52-week low of 5,571 points in a terrible start to the week for investors on the back of fears about falling house prices in Australia and geopolitical problems including Brexit and the US / China trade dispute.
In fact many well known shares are now at 52-week lows, so let's take a look at what might be sending them lower.
The Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT) share price is down 4% today to hit a 52-week low of $32.12 and the shares are now down around 33% over just 2018. Perpetual's core business is the management of large-to-mid-cap Australian equities and as these fall in value so will its funds under management and base fees. Perpetual has also struggled to grow FUM organically via net inflows and its share price is likely to loosely shadow the direction of Australian equity markets that are now also at 52-week lows.
The Clydesdale & Yorkshire Bank (CYBG PLC/IDR UNRESTR) (ASX: CYB) share price hit a 52-week low of $3.21 this morning and is now down 44% over just the course of 2018. Its primary problem is concern that the UK government will fail to negotiate a Brexit deal with the European Union before a March 29, 2019 deadline. If no deal is agreed UK-focused banks and its economy could face big problems. Clydesdale Bank is also still paying regulatory penalties as the result of its previous mis-selling of insurance products to consumers.
The Catapult Group Ltd (ASX: CAT) share price hit a 52-week l0w of 97 cents today as technology and software-as-a-service stocks come under pressure across the board. Catapult shares are now down 42% over just 2018 despite the sports analytics group posting some reasonable growth in subscriptions and annualised recurring revenues. Its principal problem is managing costs, and the shares are not expensive on conventional valuation metrics compared to many of its more popular software-as-a-service peers.
The IOOF Holdings Limited (ASX: IFL) share price crashed to a new 52-week low of $4.20 today in losing another 7% of its value after a share price rout last Friday that saw it lose one third of its value in a single day. This is because the prudential regulator APRA is seeking to have IOOF's CEO and chairman disqualified from management positions in the regulated superannuation sector. Today, IOOF announced its existing CEO and chairman would "step aside" from their positions while the case is ongoing. IOOF has internally appointed an acting CEO and chairman in their place.
