It looks set to be a disappointing end to the week for the Challenger Ltd (ASX: CGF) share price.
In afternoon trade the annuities company's shares are down over 8% to a multi-year low of $6.38.
This latest decline means that Challenger's shares have now lost almost half of their value since this time last year.
Why is the Challenger share price at a multi-year low?
Investors have been heading to the exits in their droves this week after the company provided a trading update at its investor day event.
That update revealed that the challenging market environment means it now expects normalised net profit before tax in FY 2019 to be at the lower end of its downgraded guidance range of $545 million to $565 million.
Whilst this was disappointing, it wasn't unexpected due to the the tough trading conditions and low interest rate environment.
However, its guidance for FY 2020 appears to have really spooked investors.
Management's FY 2020 guidance range for normalised net profit before tax is $500 million to $550 million. This assumes lower equities growth, lower interest rates on shareholder capital, and the impact of its distribution, product, and marketing initiatives.
The low end of this range implies a year on year decline of over 8% from the same end of its FY 2019's guidance range.
One broker that was disappointed with the update was Ord Minnett. According to a note out of the broker this morning, its analysts held firm with their lighten rating and cut the price target on its shares to $6.52. This may have added to the selling pressure on Friday.
Elsewhere on the market on Friday, the shares of Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) and Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) have continued to slide lower as well following the release of their respective updates on Thursday.
