In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has bounced back from a soft start and is pushing higher. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.1% to 6,890.2 points.
Four ASX shares that have failed to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are trading lower:
Bellevue Gold Ltd (ASX: BGL)
The Bellevue Gold share price has crashed 17% to 80.2 cents. This follows the release of the gold-focused mineral exploration company's stage 1 feasibility study. That study reveals that the Bellevue Gold Project is on track to become a top 25 Australian gold mine with a production profile of 160kozpa in the first 5 years and life of mine production of 151kozpa. It appears as though some investors were expecting an even stronger study.
Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)
The Coles share price has fallen 4% to $16.50. This may have been driven by a broker note out of Credit Suisse this morning. Following the release of its half year results, it believes Coles is losing market share and could continue to do so in the second half. In light of this, it has downgraded Coles' shares to a neutral rating and cut the price target on them to $19.04.
NRW Holdings Limited (ASX: NWH)
The NRW share price has sunk 17% to $2.34 following its half year results release. For the six months ended 31 December, the contractor reported a 44% increase in revenue to $1,168 million and a 28% lift in EBITDA to $132.8 million. However, despite this strong growth, on the bottom line the company posted a 17% decline in net profit to $29 million. This was driven largely by a significant increase in depreciation.
Perpetual Limited (ASX: PPT)
The Perpetual share price is down 7% to $31.24. This follows the release of the fund manager's half year results. Perpetual reported a 10% increase in operating revenue to $280.6 million but an 11% decline in underlying profit after tax to $52.6 million. This led to a 20% reduction in its interim dividend to 84 cents per share.
