The AGL Energy Limited (ASX: AGL) share price has sunk into the red during afternoon trade on Monday.
AGL shares are now changing hands at $6.55 apiece, an approximate 4% drop from the open.
Let's investigate why the AGL share price is down today.
What's in front of the AGL share price today?
Today's slide in the red for the AGL share price extends the loss it has posted over the last six to eight months.
In the near term, AGL shares have faced selling pressures on the back of the energy giant's FY21 earnings on 12 August, which came in well behind FY20 on key measures.
In its report, AGL recognised a 10% decrease in revenue from the year prior, whilst underlying profits compressed by 34% to $537 million.
Earnings per share (EPS) to shareholders fell by 32% to 86 cents, whereas the company decreased its FY21 dividend by 24% year over year to 75 cents.
In fact, AGL also opted to suspend its special dividend program, where it had originally planned to pay 25% of underlying profits over the coming two years.
AGL shares have given away 14% — or $1.05 per share — since the company reported its FY21 earnings. Consequently, today's decline signals a new 52-week low for the company's share price.
In addition to this, AGL also announced its plans to demerge and form two separate ASX-listed entities, Accel Energy and AGL Australia. The AGL share price immediately slumped on the news.
There is no market sensitive information for the company today. Therefore, it stands to reason that today's dip into the red may be a continuation of a greater downward trend for the AGL Energy share price.
AGL Energy share price snapshot
The AGL Energy share price has had a rough year to date, posting a loss of 45% since January 1. This extends the loss over the previous 12 months to 56%.
Both of these results have lagged the S&P/ASX 200 index (ASX: XJO)'s climb of 25% over the past year.
