Investors have been overwhelmed with profit results today and although the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX:XJO) started the day strongly, the main index has taken a turn for the worse and is currently trading around 0.4% lower to 5,512 points.
The financial and healthcare sectors are the biggest losers today, with the gold and materials sectors providing some support for the broader market.
Four shares that have seen their share prices nose-dive today, include:
AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP)
Shares of the wealth manager have plunged more than 4% today to $5.55 after it announced weaker than expected results for the half year to June 30. Underlying net profit dropped by 10% to $513 million with the company blaming "higher claims in Australian wealth protection and volatile investment market conditions" for the deterioration in profits. AMP also announced an unchanged interim dividend of 14 cents per share. Overall, it was a pretty uninspiring result from a company will an enviable market position.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd (ASX: FPH)
Shares of Fisher & Paykel fell by 3.3% today to $9.63 after the company revealed that rival, ResMed Inc. (CHESS) (ASX: RMD), has commenced legal action against the company for patent infringements relating to some of its sleep apnoea masks. It comes two days after Fisher & Paykel, itself, announced legal action against ResMed for patent infringements relating to some of its products. Although it is unclear at this stage whether either party is likely to succeed with their claims, investors typically view any sort of legal dispute as negative news. Interestingly, shares of ResMed have also lost around 1.3% today.
Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)
Shares of Flight Centre have dropped by around 2.9% today to $35.41, despite the company not releasing any market sensitive news. It appears investors are exiting their positions from the traditional travel agent and heading straight towards rival, Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB). Webjet's shares are flying high today after it announced an excellent profit result and a potentially game changing partnership with European-based travel company, Thomas Cook. Unlike Webjet, Flight Centre has been unable to kick-start its growth over the past few years and this has seen its shares underperform Webjet by nearly 130% over the past 12 months.
Origin Energy Ltd (ASX: ORG)
Shares of Origin have fallen by around 1.9% today to $5.73 after the energy company reported a statutory loss of $589 million for FY16. The loss was primarily attributed to some hefty asset write-downs, although underlying earnings from continuing operations still fell by 41% to $354 million. The lower oil price environment has obviously had a major negative impact on the company's profits and this has unfortunately forced the company to scrap its final dividend as well. Despite the underwhelming result, Origin is forecasting a 45-60% increase in underlying EBITDA in FY17, assuming an average oil price of $71.50 per barrel (AUD).
