The Praemium Ltd (ASX: PPS) share price has finished in the red on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, the negative session for the financial services platform provider makes it the seventh out of the last eight trading days.
Indeed, it seems love has not been in the air for the Praemium share price in February. The series of falls has accumulated to a disappointing performance over the last month, falling 39.2%.
So, what has turned investors away from the company's shares?
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The financial platform arms race
It has been a big month for ASX-listed financial platform providers. In the space of six days, Praemium, Netwealth Group Ltd (ASX: NWL), and HUB24 Limited (ASX: HUB) have reported their half-year results.
The figures contained in each of the companies reports have likely been enlightening for shareholders. Given the similarity between businesses, investors can quite easily compare and contrast numbers between each of the companies.
This brings us to why Praemium might be struggling during this month. It began with its own half-year results, which failed to impress the market despite funds under administration (FUA) reaching a record $49 billion. This represented an increase of 43% from the prior corresponding period.
Rather, investors seemed to be fixated on the company's net profit after tax (NPAT) swinging from $2.8 million to a $2.6 million loss. Hence, the market responded with an initial 14% battering to the Praemium share price.
Since then, Netwealth and HUB24 have released their numbers. In contrast, both of these companies delivered positive earnings, although Netwealth's was relatively flat.
In addition, it became clear that Praemium reported both the slowest growing FUA and the smallest. It appears this has put a further dent in the Praemium share price.
Praemium share price compared to its peers
While the year hasn't been fruitful for any of the major platform providers, it has been the worst for the Praemium share price.
Since the beginning of 2022, HUB24 shares have fared the best, falling 15.2%. Meanwhile, Netwealth shares have performed worse with a downward move of 22%. However, it is ASX-listed Praemium — with a fall of 47% — that has delivered the worst returns so far this year.
