The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) is down by 18% since 20 February, triggered by fears by the growing seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak. However, if we look back over the past 12 months, the market decline as a whole has been small.
With that said, let's take a look at the 2 worst performing ASX 20 shares over the past 12 months.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)
Australia's largest oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum has been struggling over the past 12 months, with its share price dropping by 38% during that time. However, its share price actually traded sideways for the most part of last year and it wasn't until late January that its share price started to sharply decline.
Woodside's full-year results for the period ended 31 December 2019 provide some insight into its recent troubles. Woodside's net profit after tax dropped heavily to US$382 million compared to $1,467 million in FY 2018. Even if you excluded one-off items, the underlying net profit is down by nearly 11% to $528 million. Woodside's operating revenue also fell, by 7% to US$4,873 million.
In particular, Tropical Cyclone Veronica affected the company's first-quarter operations. On an underlying basis, Woodside posted a US$1,063 million profit and free cash flow of $2.1 billion. Woodside did report strong margins in FY 2019 and a 36% increase in free cash flow.
On a positive note, Woodside also increased its interim dividend by 50% to 15 cents a share.
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC)
Westpac has been the worst performing of the big four banks over the past 12 months, with its share price down by 25% during this time. The other major three major banks – Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ) – have also suffered significant falls, however Westpac has been hit the hardest. After seeing a gradual upward trend in its share price until late September last year, since then its share price has seen a sharp decline.
Westpac's recent share price drop extends beyond concerns of a slowing economy and the impact of the coronavirus. One of the major reasons is investor concern about the extent of any penalties imposed on the company from its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws breaches. Westpac is alleged to have breached these laws with more than 20 million transactions, some of which facilitated transactions enabling child exploitation. AUSTRAC said Westpac had failed in regards to risk assessments, customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, record keeping and the passing on of certain data.
