The past week has certainly not been kind to ASX shares and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Over the past five trading days, the ASX 200 has fallen by a nasty 4.7% – a dramatic fall by any reading. But that's nothing compared to the woes of the Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) share price.
Flight Centre shares have certainly had a week to forget. At the end of last Wednesday's session, this ASX 200 travel stock was asking $19.70 a share. Today, Flight Centre is trading at just $17.50 at present.
That's down a depressing 3.77% for the day alone, and down by an even more sobering 11.14% since last Wednesday:
So what's going on with Flight Centre shares that have made this ASX 200 travel company such a poor performer over the past week?
Why has the Flight Centre share price seen so much turbulence this week?
Well, it's hard to say. The last time we had any news from the company itself was on Monday. As we covered at the time, Flight Centre told investors that its recent share purchase plan (SPP) had been successful.
So much so that the company decided to raise $60 million instead of the original $40 million. That was despite demand of up to $350 million from investors.
These shares were issued at a price of $14.60, which has probably played a major role in the share price weakness we have seen over the past week. The funds raised from investors will go towards the acquisition of the British luxury travel company Scott Dunn.
Together with Flight Centre's ongoing presence on the ASX 200's most shorted shares list, this share purchase plan looks like the most likely reason Flight Centre had had such a tough week. But it's not the only ASX 200 travel share that has.
Most of Flight Centre's peers in the travel sector have also dramatically underperformed the broader market since last Wednesday. The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price has lost almost 7% over the same period, while Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) shares are down by close to 8%.
So it was always going to be a tough week for the Flight Centre share price. No doubt investors will be hoping for a smoother end to the trading week tomorrow.
