The FlexiGroup Limited (ASX: FXL) share price hit a 52-week low of $1.26 this morning and is now down around 30% over the past year and down around 67% over the past 5 years.
Flexigroup has not provided a material update to the market since before Christmas 2018 but the share price is probably under pressure as the regulator ASIC is reported to be looking into operators in the buy-now-pay-later consumer credit sector that Flexigroup operates in under the Certegy Ezi-Pay and Oxipay brands.
Another reason the Flexigroup share price could be falling is that its growth in the buy-now-pay-later sector has been poor compared to start-up rivals like AfterPay Touch (ASX: APT), which has stolen a march by targeting its market such as millennial consumers.
In early August 2018 Flexigroup's board announced its CEO would be abruptly leaving the business just as the AfterPay success story was reaching a public crescendo.
Flexigroup recently confirmed FY 2019 guidance of profit between $90 million to $100 million, which would represent growth of 13% on the prior fiscal year. The reasonable financial guidance suggests the share price weakness is more due to investor concerns over the strategy or regulatory and competitive environment than anything else.
