During early afternoon trade, the IT distributor's shares are exchanging hands for $14.60, up 1.39%.

In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is hovering around 7,230 points, up 0.12% for the day.

Dicker Data moves to takeover Hills' Security and IT division

Investors are bidding up the Dicker Data share price following the latest announcement by the company.

According to its release, Dicker Data advised it has entered into a conditional business sale agreement with ASX-listed Hills Ltd (ASX: HIL).

Under the deal, Dicker Data acquired the Security and Information Technology (SIT) distribution division of Hills for around $20 million.

Dicker Data stated that the purchase price represents a premium to the net assets sold. Thus, the final amount is largely dependent upon inventory-related balances at the completion date.

Headquartered in New South Wales, Hills is the largest distributor of physical security products in the Australian market.

In FY21, the SIT division generated $123.2 million in revenue, comprising $98.7 million to security and $24.4 million to IT products.

Once the acquisition is finalised, Dicker Data will be the leading distributor in the SIT space. This will see the company gain not only the business but inventory, customer and vendor relationships, employees, along with other net assets of the business.

Notably, the Hills SIT division currently has over 2,000 customers, of which 85% are new to Dicker Data. This is expected to grow the company's total active customer base to more than 10,000 businesses across Australia and New Zealand.

The proposed acquisition is subject to Hills shareholder approval, which will be at a general meeting sometime in April 2022.

What did management say?

Dicker Data chair and CEO, David Dicker commented:

This will add an entirely new Business area to our company and introduce us to a wide range of new customers, as well as adding significant new revenue with the promise of significant expansion on that, going forward.

Ultimately, we have determined that a change of ownership to an organisation with strong capability in technology distribution and solutions, is in the best interests of the Hills shareholders and the future success of the SIT division, its people, suppliers and customers.

Despite being flat in 2022, the Dicker Data share price has risen by almost 30% since this time last year.

The post 'Adding significant revenue': Dicker Data (ASX:DDR) share price edges higher on takeover announcement appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Jennifer Hill-Ling, whose family founded the company in 1948, stepped down as chair immediately on Thursday and will leave the board altogether "later in the year".

Former chief of Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME), David Chambers, will take over in leading the board. He's also the current chair of Mach7 Technologies Ltd (ASX: M7T).

Hill-Ling's great uncle Lance Hill invented the famous Hills Hoist rotary clothesline in 1945. Her grandfather Harold Ling joined his brother-in-law to start mass manufacturing the product that would become a staple of Australian backyards.

Both co-founders had stints as chair, before Hill-Ling's father Robert Hill-Ling took over. Jennifer took the reins in late 2005.

Unfortunately, her tenure has not been successful for shareholders, as a series of business decisions took the Hills share price from a high of $6.72 in August 2007 to just 14 cents after market close on Thursday.

That's a painful 98% loss.

Hills doesn't make clothes lines anymore

The Adelaide company sold off the rights to the clothes hoists a few years ago and is now involved in sectors that are far removed from its original product.

"It has been a great privilege and honour to serve as a director of Hills and, for the past 16 years, as its chairman," said Hill-Ling.

"During this time, Hills has established a leading healthcare business providing nurse call and patient engagement solutions that is well positioned to expand further within the health technology sector."

On behalf of her family, she endorsed the new chair Chambers, his board and their plans for the business.

"I am confident that Hills is well-placed to continue to grow its businesses," she said.

"They have and will continue to have the support of the Hill-Ling family as they implement the company's growth initiatives."

The Hills share price has lifted 3.57% this morning and is trading at 14.5 cents at the time of writing.

The post ASX company boss finally exits after 98% wiped off share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Operating across Australia and New Zealand, Hills provides health solutions including nurse call solutions, patient engagement systems and wi-fi networks in hospital and aged care facilities. The company also operates a distribution division, working in integrated security, information technology and technical services.

What did Hills announce?

In today's release, Hills advised that it will make financial amendments as it seeks to re-organise its accounting books. The assessment follows the group's completion of the external foreign exchange review. 

As a result, Hills will make one-off adjustments of $4.9 million mostly comprising non-cash items. The revised figures will be implemented in the first-half of FY21, ending 31 December.

The impairments include:

• Write-off of assets relating to exited businesses – $1.7 million;
• Write-off of assets relating to exited vendor arrangements – $0.4 million;
• Reassessment of valuation of aged, slow-moving and demonstration stock – $1.4 million;
• Reassessment of asset lives and property settlements – $0.86 million; and
• Write-off of NZ deferred tax assets arising from the current poor trading conditions – $0.57 million

While these write-offs have been necessary, Hills said that its Australian distribution business was beginning to improve. This comes as the company experienced tough first quarter trading conditions due to COVID-19.

Furthermore, its Australian health solutions business has returned to normal trading levels during the current quarter.

In its New Zealand operations, Hills is still facing headwinds, as announced in its annual general meeting (AGM) early last month. It does not envisage recovery in the 2021 financial year – as opposed to its Australian business.

Previously, the company said its objective was to deliver shareholders a full-year net profit in FY21. However, due to asset impairments and mixed trading conditions, the company does not expect to meet this. Instead it will focus on delivering a second-half net profit.

Hills is scheduled to release its first half FY21 results early 2021, along with a further trading update.

What did management say?

Commenting on the accounting adjustment, Hills CEO and managing director David Lenz said:

While it is disappointing to have to recognise further one-off adjustments to our asset values, we are pleased that the underlying businesses are recovering from the impact of COVID-19 and remain well positioned to capitalise on market opportunities in the second half as Australia emerges from the pandemic and our cash position remains strong.

Hills share price summary

The Hills share price has been hit hard over the last 12 months, falling almost 50% year-to-date. The company reached a 52-week high of 48.5 cents in February.

The post Why the Hills (ASX:HIL) share price is falling today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing, the Hills share price has pulled back to 16 cents per share, up 1.29% on yesterday's close.

What did Hills announce?

Hills provided shareholders with a market update earlier today.

The company noted that it expected to report a loss for FY20 in the range of $6 million to $7 million. Hills cited one-off costs of $7 million to $8 million in FX adjustments, redundancies and inventory provisions for the result.

In addition, Hills noted that the company has significantly improved its balanced sheet and is well positioned to emerge stronger. The company noted that net debt for FY20 is expected to be below $9 million, down from $28.4 million the year prior.

The update also highlighted that the company's core markets have shown relative resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic, with solid trading in July. Management from Hills cited the company's improved balance sheet and assured investors that the business will emerge from the pandemic in a competitive position.

In the update Hills noted that its ongoing cost reduction program and Job Keeper payments have allowed the company to retain employees during the pandemic.

Hills also noted that these estimations are unaudited, with more details expected with the release of the company's FY20 results.

More on Hills 

Hills is an Australian-owned company that consists of 2 businesses.

Hills Health Solutions provides nurse call solutions, patient engagement and wifi networks in hospitals and aged care facilities throughout Australia and New Zealand. The company's second business is Hills Distribution, which provides integrated security and IT services to consumers.

According to its trading update today, Hills has been able to reduce its net debt after divesting from its non-core businesses. The divestment in 2019 has allowed the company to focus on its healthcare and distribution businesses.

In addition, Hills has looked to limit the damage of the COVID-19 pandemic by asking its staff to take pay cuts. In April, the company saw staff on the lowest salaries experience a 10% cut, whilst a 35% cut was given to those on the highest salaries.

Foolish takeaway

The Hills Limited share price is currently trading 1.29% higher for the day at 16 cents. Shares in the company have been sold down after hitting an intra-day high of 18 cents.

The post What sent the Hills share price flying today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three small caps that are pushing notably higher are listed below. Here's why they are on the rise:

The Compumedics Limited (ASX: CMP) share price has rocketed 20.5% to 44 cents after the medical device company announced three-year distribution contracts with three existing, long-term, China-based sleep and neuro-diagnostic and monitoring distributors. The new agreements come with a minimum sales commitment of $15 million over the three years. Compumedics has had a lot of success in the China market of late, growing its business by an average of 20% per annum over the last five years. Management believes this agreement is a sign that it can continue double-digit growth in the country for the foreseeable future. Given its strong growth prospects in the country, Compumedics could be worth a closer look.

The Hills Ltd (ASX: HIL) share price has climbed 4.5% to 22.5 cents after the electronics and communications products manufacturer announced that it has been awarded the contract to supply the nurse call solution for the new Westmead Central Acute Service Building at the $1 billion Westmead Redevelopment project in New South Wales. No financial terms were disclosed, but CEO and managing director, David Lenz, believes this is a strategically important win that will strengthen its presence in the Western Sydney Local Health District.

The Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) share price has pushed almost 5% higher to 32.5 cents after the lithium miner surprised the market by declaring a 1 cent per share unfranked dividend. Management has been able to do this thanks to the consistent cash flow being generated by its Mt Marion lithium project. This is in line with the company's capital management strategy which aims to provide prudent shareholder returns in parallel with the maintenance of a strong balance sheet. Based on its current share price, this dividend equates to a 3% yield.

The post Why these small cap shares are racing higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here's a quick recap:

• FTSE 100 (UK): up 0.9%
• DAX (Germany): down 0.18%
• CAC 40 (France): down 0.07%
• Dow Jones (USA): up 0.35%
• NASDAQ (USA): down 0.02%

The Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia (ASX: GMA) share price could receive some attention today. The company released its third-quarter earnings results this morning, revealing a 31.3% decline in reported net profit compared to the year-ago period.

The Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE) share price could also remain in focus after the shares soared 10%. Similarly, a2 Milk Company Ltd (Australia) (ASX: A2M) rebounded 5.9% following Wednesday's decline and Blackmores Limited (ASX: BKL) jumped 4.2% — both could warrant more attention today.

On the other hand, the Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) share price suffered a 5% decline. Investors will be hoping for a better performance today.

Meanwhile, the Nanosonics Ltd. (ASX: NAN) and Hills Ltd (ASX: HIL) share prices could come under the microscope. The companies will both hold their annual general meetings today, which could draw some attention to their share prices.

The post 7 shares you need to watch on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In afternoon trade the shares of the technology company are up 6% to 17.5 cents.

Why have they climbed higher?

This morning Hills provided the market with a business update and FY 2017 outlook.

According to today's release the company has begun the development of its new digital platform which it believes will deliver increased sales.

Management expects the completed platform to provide its customers with 24/7 e-commerce availability, live inventory, access to invoices, statements, and price books, and the ability to make payments online.

Furthermore, the company plans to launch an asset-tracking solution by the name of HillsTrak and enter into the Fire and DIY markets.

In regards to its FY 2017 outlook, management expects the company to post a full-year statutory loss of between $6 million and $8 million.

This will be a big improvement on the statutory loss of $68.3 million it made in FY 2016.

The post The Hills Ltd share price has climbed 6% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Source: Google Finance, S&P Global Markets Intelligence

It probably won't be a surprise to learn that a number of gold miners are on the list – given the spot gold price has been in freefall since early November. Cardinal Resources, Alkane, Blackham and Beadell are all gold miners.

Metals X is a diversified miner with gold, nickel, tin, cobalt and copper assets, but most of its price decline is due to the demerger earlier this week of its gold business into Westgold Resources Ltd.

We've covered the woes of uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd earlier, but it's not the first time we've warned investors to be wary of the miner given the heavily depressed uranium price.

CSG Ltd is a print and business solutions provider, but saw its share price hammered in mid-November following a profit downgrade, that may indicate that the company is facing structural issues.

Hills is trying to turn its business around after diversifying its business too far, but was forced to put the demerger of its Health Solutions business on hold, "due to current market volatility".

S2 Resources has seen its share price slide on what appear to be poor exploration results.

And finally homewares retailer Adairs shocked the market with a profit downgrade at the start of November which saw its share price hammered.

The post The top 10 worst stocks in November appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The company says the demerger has been deferred, "due to current market volatility".

The newly demerged company – to be called Lincor Limited – was expected to IPO on the ASX, and conduct an equity raising, but that is also on hold. The company says it will proceed with the demerger and the Lincor IPO in 2017 – depending on suitable market conditions of course.

Hills is in the midst of a multi-year turnaround, after diversifying into far too many sectors including electronics, home & hardware and building & industrial. It also expanded into healthcare.

Electronics included TV antennas and TV systems, electronic security and radio frequency systems. Home & hardware included the ubiquitous Hills Hoist washing line, while building & industrial included metal building products, tubing and other metal products.

In 2009, it all came unstuck as economies around the world slowed, including Australia. Hills was forced to restructure its business – and is still in the process of doing so – although without much success. In 2009, Hills saw an underlying net profit of $28 million from revenues of $1.2 billion. Last financial year, the group reported an underlying loss of $775,000 from revenues of $329 million.

As you can probably imagine, the share price has followed and has dropped 54% in the past five years and 90% over the last ten years.

At the time of the demerger announcement, Hills saw its share price skyrocket by more than 45%, with investors apparently keen to get a piece of the Lincor IPO.

Unfortunately for shareholders, today's bad news is highly unlikely to be the last of the bad news from Hills. Foolish investors might want to give the company a wide berth.

The post Why the Hills Ltd share price has crashed today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has gone virtually nowhere over the past month – losing 2.5% of its value and sinking below 5,300 points. Even the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (Index: ^AXSO) (ASX: XSO) has dropped 5%.

But despite the performance of the indices, several companies have seen large jumps in their share prices.

Here are the top 10 gainers over the past month on the ASX (of those that were listed a month ago).

Source: S&P Global Markets Intelligence, Google Finance

Several of the moves are quite self-explanatory.

Brainchip announced in late September that it was rolling out its casino table security technology at one of Los Vegas' biggest casinos following a successful trial. The technology is expected to be rolled out to more of the group's casinos after that. As you might expect, there's plenty of potential with Brainchip's technology.

Yancoal has been rumoured to be interested in Rio Tinto Limited's (ASX: RIO) thermal coal assets, and also benefitting from soaring coal prices.

Karoon Gas saw its share price soar on a potential deal to acquire stakes in two oil projects, including a producing field off the coast of Brazil.

Resource Generation has reported that it expects to have its Boikarabelo coal mine constructed and delivering coal to market in around 2 years.

Hexagon Resources announced that it had excellent stage 1 lithium battery results from its McIntosh project in WA. Lithium companies tend to soar on any positive news these days.

Austin Engineering saw a new CEO appointed in early October, and has probably benefitted from the announced takeover of fellow mining engineering firm Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) at the start of this month.

Hills Ltd (ASX: HIL) announced that it will receive 3 years of licence fees and cash receipts from Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) following the closure of its Masters home hardware business.

UGL received a takeover offer from Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) hence its share price soaring.

Nearmap had an excellent quarterly update just over a week ago which saw the share price fly.

And finally, Steamships Trading Co is highly illiquid, and its share price jumped because 3,000 shares traded in mid-October pushing the share price from $16.90 to $22.50.

The post The top 10 gainers on the ASX in the past month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

About Lincor, Inc.

Lincor, Inc. operates under namesake brand Lincor Solutions – a global leader in the development and delivery of point of care patient engagement solutions for hospitals and healthcare delivery organisations.

Lincor Solutions was established in 2003 and has a global presence servicing some 150 hospitals around the world, enhancing the experience of over 2 million patients globally through its proprietary software platform, LINC Technology.

LINC Technology is an end-to-end technology platform which provides patients, nurses and doctors with real time clinical information and patient content, enabling the provision of efficient, low-cost patient care.

Lincor, Inc. has offices in Ireland, France, Canada, the UK and the United States, and plans to make its debut in Australia through the strategic partnership with Hills Health Solutions.

Merger terms

Under the terms of the merger, Hills and Lincor, Inc. will demerge assets and know how to Lincor Limited, an entity to be listed on the ASX. Hills' shareholders will own approximately half of Lincor Limited following listing, with the remainder to be owned by Lincor, Inc.'s shareholders.

At the same time, Lincor Limited is expected to raise approximately $30 million of new capital to fund global growth, pay transaction costs and repay all existing debt.

The specifics of the transaction are still to be advised and the entire demerger remains conditional at the present time.

New company

If the demerger is approved, Lincor Limited will enable Hills Health Solutions and Lincor Solutions to solidify their existing commercial relationship by creating a vertically integrated Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, vying for market leadership of the healthcare facilities market (which consists of over 15,500 providers).

Although the merger will combine around 1,020 health and aged care facilities, including Healthscope Ltd's (ASX: HSO) new Northern Beaches Hospital, Lincor Limited's installed facility base will account for a mere 6.5% of the total potential market, leaving plenty of headroom for growth.

Accordingly, with no debt and a growing health and aged care industry, Lincor Limited shares have serious potential to be snapped up on debut and become the next hot tech-stock like Altium Limited (ASX: ALU) and Class Ltd (ASX: CL1).

Foolish takeaway

Investors buying shares in Hills today are likely doing so to receive shares in Lincor Limited if the demerger proceeds.

Nevertheless, investors must remember that they will ultimately be left holding some Hills shares after the demerger (as it will likely be in-specie), which means investors must consider both sides of the coin before buying.

The post Hills Ltd shares are going gangbusters on its merger plans appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

These four companies saw their share prices trashed…

Clover Corporation Limited (ASX: CLV) share price crashed 28.6% to 40 cents after the company's clinical research study results for N3RO failed to meet its goal of reducing the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia – a lung condition in premature babies. Clover continues to make omega 3 and 6 oils as ingredients for foods such as infant formula products, but the result also means Premneo Pharmaceuticals has cancelled its licence agreement with Clover. The two companies had anticipated positive results from the trial.

Spotless Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SPO) share price dropped 9.9% to $1.045, perhaps as institutional investors switched into Programmed Maintenance Services Limited (ASX: PRG). Programmed's share price soared more than 17% today, following a number of broker upgrades after yesterday's results. Spotless provides facilities, management, catering, laundry and cleaning services to businesses and government departments.

Hills Ltd (ASX: HIL) saw its share price sink 6.7% to 28 cents, despite no news from the company. Hills' share price has rocketed up 200% to mid-May as we wrote here, so it's more than likely investors are taking some profits. As we wrote at the time, we viewed Hills' shares as around fair value, but still plenty of work ahead for the company to continue justifying that price.

Martin Aircraft Company Ltd (ASX: MJP) share price dropped 5.3% to $0.63, and again it was most likely due to shareholders taking profits, after the jet pack manufacturer saw its shares spike more than 70% in the past week. In one day, shares rose as much as 44% and hit 65 cents thanks to an article in the Financial Times that was picked up by media organisations around the world.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares sank today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The rally appears to have been sparked by an update provided by the group on Tuesday. By getting 'back to basics', it seems Hills is beginning to gain some traction.

While the company had already told investors its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was expected to be bigger in the second-half than in the first half of financial year 2016, it also said it had achieved considerable cost reductions so far in 2016.

Corporate costs since the beginning of the financial year have fallen around $4.7 million, while operations costs are down $5 million by realignment of the structure. That should result in improved margins through the business.

Before investors get too excited however, Hills does have a way to go to be able to prove itself. It may be wise to remain on the sidelines, for now, until there is more proof that the company can sustain its recent performance.

The post Why the Hills Ltd share price has skyrocketed appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Hills has completely changed tack on its business strategy – once being famous for producing the 'Hills Hoist' washing line, but is now focused on Technology, including security and CCTV, communications solutions, and the health care space with interactive TV systems and nurse call facilities.

And the change has done wonders for the company.

In the first half of this financial year (FY16), Hills looked down and out for the count after reporting a $69 million loss as revenues shrank from $227 million to just $164 million. Underlying net profit wasn't much better coming in at $2.9 million.

However, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at $5.4 million – better than expected.

In early April, Hills notified the market that EBITDA for the second half would be better than the first and that its 'back to basics' strategy was gaining traction.

Another update earlier this week, highlighted the changes the company has made since 2012, including slashing debt from $130 million to $38 million in May 2016. Capex, the number of sites and staff have also all been rationalised and Hills is now much better placed to be profitable.

Additionally, Hills now has $182 million of unbooked tax losses to offset against future profits – which could see the company not pay tax for many years.

The company's licencing agreement with Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) to sell its products through Masters and Big W contained an agreement on a guaranteed minimum annual royalty payment from Woolworths too – so Hills has some protection from the demise of Masters – and could now sell its product range through Masters or Mitre 10.

Foolish takeaway

On a rough valuation basis, Hills is now trading on a prospective EV/EBITDA ratio of around 12x (although that is conservative). That appears neither cheap nor expensive, and the company still has plenty of work ahead of it.

The post Why the Hills Ltd share price is up 200% in the past month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) shares have gained 5.1% today to trade at $22.63, which is their highest price in more than five years. Although the specialty electronics retailer hasn't released any specific news that would explain the jump, it's possible that the shares are rising after Macquarie upgraded the stock to "outperform" and gave it a price target of $24. CLSA and Credit Suisse have price targets of $25 and $25.05, respectively.

Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX: IAG) shares have gained 3.4% to trade at $5.14 which could also relate to fresh broker news. Although it cut its price target by 9.2% to $5.40 per share, Bell Potter has upgraded its guidance from Hold to Buy while Morgan Stanley also upgraded its guidance from equal-weight to overweight. The shares have taken investors on a rollercoaster ride in recent years although legendary investor Warren Buffett has jumped on for the long-haul, giving investors some confidence it's headed in the right direction.

Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) shares have climbed 3.2% to $38.96, despite a heavy sell-off of their London-listed shares overnight and further falls in the iron ore price. It's possible that investors are simply wading their way into the shares after a heavy sell-off so far in 2016, but investors should be cautious. China's growth is slowing, as is its investment in new infrastructure, which poses as a huge headwind for iron ore miners.

Hills Ltd (ASX: HIL) shares have risen 13.3% to 25.5 cents, although shares did climb as much as 17.8% earlier in the session. The gain came after the company said Woolworths' recent decision to sell or wind-up its Masters home improvement business would not impact Woolworths' obligations under their exclusive licence agreement. Despite today's rise however, the shares remain more than 80% below their 52-week high price.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares are jumping today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

So What: With the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) enduring its most severe sell-off in recent memory today, it is difficult to ascertain how much of the stock's 8% fall can be attributed to the market's heightened uncertainty and how much should be attributed to the results themselves.

Hills was forced to undertake a major restructure as a result of a decline of manufacturing in Australia which has seen it sell business lines and acquire new companies in a shift toward services and distribution.

Management said: "We have undertaken significant activity to position Hills as Australia's first choice value added distributor in the Security, AV, Communications and Health service sectors. While most of the initiatives necessary to achieve this position have been completed, we will continue to refine our operational processes to support our staff in customer service excellence and restore supply chain efficiencies."

However, it also said that it will take further time to return the businesses to the profit levels expected by management (and the market) which is likely one of the reasons behind today's sell-off. During the 12-month period, Hills reported a 3% lift in normalised revenues to $427.8 million, while it swung to an $85.9 million loss, down from a $24.8 million profit in the 2014 financial year.

On an underlying basis (which removes one-off costs and write-downs, including a $94 million non-cash impairment), net profit after tax (NPAT) fell 59.5% to $11 million.

Pleasingly, the company reduced corporate costs by roughly $10 million during the year and will focus on improving efficiencies even further in the 2016 financial year.

Now What: Although the stock is trading at an all-time low level, the company has a lot to prove before it can convince me it is a reasonable long-term investment prospect. Until then, I'll be looking for other potentially more rewarding opportunities.

The post Why the Hills Ltd share price is down 7% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Have investors given up after all the excitement surrounding Greece in the past few weeks that they've decided to have a breather? Perhaps it's the more than 3% gain by the market this week that has allowed investors and traders alike to take Friday off.

Whatever the case, these 5 stocks aren't feeling the love today…

Novogen Limited (ASX: NRT) has dropped 11.9% to 26 cents as the biotech company announced that its chemotherapy candidate drug Anisina had been granted Orphan Drug Designation for neuroblastoma. Orphan Drug designation is granted to a product or drug when it will be used to treat a rare disease or condition. Novogen has already received orphan drug designation approval for its Cantrixil drug in April this year, and its TRXE-009 drug was proven to kill brain cancer cells in May. But it seems investors haven't taken kindly to the news, with many years of trials still ahead for Anisina.

Metro Performance Glass Ltd (ASX: MPP) is down 5.4% to $1.41. The New Zealand-based company produces a wide range of customised glass products used in residential and non-residential construction, such as windows, doors, showers, mirrors and splashbacks. If you're a shareholder, no need to worry about today's fall – the company went ex-dividend today – which usually means shares will fall (as buyers are no longer entitled to receive the dividend).

Hills Limited (ASX: HIL) has lost 5.2% to 54.5 cents and the company has now lost more than half its value since the beginning of the year. New CEO Grant Logan has only been in the job since the end of May, so he hasn't had much chance to turn around the fortunes of the company, although he was Chief operating officer (COO) prior to that, although only since February 2015. Hills is expecting a rough second half of the 2015 financial year, forecasting full-year underlying net profit of between$11 and $14 million. With $9 million coming in the first half, that doesn't leave much in the second-half. Hills is materially affected (negatively) by the falling Australian dollar.

Boom Logistics Ltd (ASX: BOL) has fallen 4.2% to 11.5 cents. Boom provides crane logistics and lifting solutions but is struggling with contracts in the mining and resources sector. Miners and contractors are all pushing suppliers and sub-contractors for better rates to cut costs. Not only that, but Boom has a bucketload of debt, and recently announced that the second half of the 2015 financial year would be worse than the first as conditions continue to deteriorate in its sectors. Despite that, net tangible assets per share are roughly four times the current share price at ~45 cents.

Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN) is down 4.5% to $5.94. Part miner, part mining services contractor, Mineral Resources owns a 30% stake in the Mt Marion lithium concentrate operation and today announced that China's second-largest lithium producer Jiangxi Ganfeng Co. Ltd would be taking an initial stake of 25% in the project. Partner Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) will see its stake drop to 45% from 70% and will receive US$19.5 million – hence Neometals' share price rising 8.7% today. Were investors disappointed Mineral Resources hasn't sold down its stake too?

The post 5 stocks sinking on the ASX today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

While the gains have been widespread; a number of stocks have endured heavy losses, including these four:

M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU) shares have fallen 5.5% to be trading at $10.89 after the company lodged a bid for internet services provider iiNet Limited (ASX: IIN). The size of the deal, worth more than $1.5 billion, may have spooked investors, especially after its recent acquisition of New Zealand's Call Plus Group for $250 million.

Meanwhile, TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) has also fallen 5.8% as a result of M2 Group's offer. TPG already had a $1.4 billion offer in place and most investors believed that was a bargain considering the synergies that TPG would recognise. TPG will now be forced to forego those synergies, or else pay a much higher price for them.

Hills Ltd (ASX: HIL) has fallen 16.5% to be trading at 66 cents per share after it downgraded its full-year profit guidance. The company had previously provided guidance of between $18.5 million and $19.5 million, but now expects net profit after tax (NPAT) to be in the range of $11 million and $14 million. You can read more about that here.

Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shareholders have had a day to forget. The gold miner has been the worst performing stock from the ASX 200 due to a heavy fall in gold prices late last week. The shiny metal fell 1.6% to US$1,175 an ounce, while Northern Star's shares dipped 6.1% to $2.09.

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After recently divesting away from its troubled steel-making businesses, Hills started a transformation in an attempt to become a leader in electronic communications, security, healthcare and audio visual services.

However, the transition has been anything but smooth. After reporting a strong 2014 result, the company plunged 32% in a single day of trading when it reported a steep fall in half-year profit earlier this year.

At the time it attributed the weaker results to downward pressure on the Australian dollar and poor trading conditions. However it predicted a full-year net profit of between $18.5 million and $19.5 million (which would've been down from 2014's $27.3 million in underlying net profit).

However Hills said in its ASX announcement today that it expects full year net profit after tax (NPAT) attributable to owners to be in the range of $11 million to $14 million.

The mid-point of that guidance implies a whopping 54% fall in profit, year-over-year.

The company said it did not expect the usual pick-up in fourth quarter sales and has not been able to overcome margin pressure following the significant declines in the Australian dollar (AUDUSD).

In response to the falls, the company is focused on reducing group overheads with non-executive directors receiving a 20% wage reduction from 1 May 2015.

Despite the reduction in forecasts; Hills said it remains conservatively geared and continues to evaluate acquisitions. In this respect it also stated that it "has incurred and continues to incur certain due diligence and related costs on completed and potential acquisitions." These costs are not included in the group's underlying profit figures which it uses to provide profit guidance.

Should you buy Hills shares?

Personally, I was quite bullish on Hills' transformation away from its capital intensive steel business. However the profit downgrades brought about by both internal and external challenges have caught me off guard.

Whilst they could arguably be better value now than they were a year ago, I'm holding off buying Hills shares, for now.

The post Here's why Hills Ltd plunged 20% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The shares were trading at a high of $2.10 12 months ago, but have since fallen 57%. They finished Monday's session trading 32.33% lower at just 90 cents per unit.

Source: Yahoo Finance

What Happened: For the half-year ended 31 December 2014, Hills recorded net profit of $9 million which represents a 36.2% decline on the $14.1 million reported in the prior corresponding period. Meanwhile, the company predicts its full-year net profit will come in between $18.5 million and $19.5 million. Assuming the profit comes in at the upper end of that range, it would still be a 21% decline compared to last year's profit.

Hills' management said: "The further downward pressure on the Australian dollar and the Reserve Bank's forecast for a longer period of below trend growth imply a conservative outlook for the Australian economy and in turn our core business."

Considering the headwinds facing the business, it seems investors would be best to avoid Hills Ltd for now.

The post Here's why Hills Ltd plummeted 32% on Tuesday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.