Shares in AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) have plummeted this year as the stars align against the energy giant. Right now, the AGL share price is 32.96% lower than it was at the beginning of 2021.
The AGL share price closed at $12.12 on the first trading day of 2021. It finished Friday's trade at $8.13.
In that same period, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gained 8.49%.
Let's take a look at what's been dragging on AGL's performance on the ASX.
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AGL's 2021
2021 hasn't been a great year so far for AGL.
Since the year began, it's lost a court battle against Greenpeace, spruced a 10% dividend yield for all the wrong reasons, and had its CEO walk out.
However, those aren't the likeliest reasons the AGL share price has been falling this year.
AGL's plan to split into two separate businesses has been weighing on its share price since March.
Under AGL's proposal, one of the resulting businesses would focus on renewable energy, and the other would take control of AGL's fossil fuel businesses.
The company announced the plan in March.
The last we heard of the split was on 30 June, when AGL outlined how it will go ahead.
First, AGL will become Accel Energy, an electricity generation business. Then, Accel Energy will demerge a new entity named AGL Australia. AGL Australia will focus on energy-led retailing, flexible energy trading, storage and supply.
AGL shareholders will end up with 1 security in each company for every security of AGL they hold at the time of the split.
The second weight dragging down the AGL share price is continuous drops in wholesale electricity prices.
Wholesale electricity prices have been falling as a result of the availability of solar and wind-generated electricity increasing.
Unfortunately, this means the AGL share price is likely to be partly driven by happenings outside the company's control.
AGL share price snapshot
Beyond 2021, the AGL share price hasn't been performing at its best for a number of years now.
It fell 16% over the course of 2018, gained 2.7% in 2019, and fell 42% over 2020.
Since this time last year, the AGL share price has fallen 52%.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $5 billion, with approximately 623 million shares outstanding.
