Shares of Vocus Communications Limited (ASX: VOC) were hammered this morning!
The shares plunged as much as 15% at one stage to a low of just $4.895. They did rebound a little and were trading 12.7% lower at $5.03 at the time of writing, but shareholders will still be left shaking their heads.
If that's you, you may want to look away now…
What happened to Vocus?
Vocus has been on the nose with investors for some time now. Indeed, shares traded for as much as $9.40 in May this year but have since crashed 46.5%. They're now sitting at their lowest price in more than two years.
Some of this has to do with tempered expectations for the telecommunications industry as a whole, with its rival TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) also down 44.2% since it peaked at $12.93 in August.
However, today's loss appears to have stemmed from a trading update provided by Vocus ahead of its annual general meeting.
It said revenue is expected to be around $1.9 billion for the full-year, with underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) between $430 million and $450 million. In turn, underlying net profit is expected to be in the range of $205 million and $215 million.
Investors clearly weren't impressed by the update, with many reassessing their position in the business going forward. That said, given that the shares have come off the boil, others may see this as an opportunity to snap up shares in a quality business at a more reasonable price.
