It's been a strong start to the trading week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) and most ASX 200 stocks so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the Index has gained a healthy 0.8% today and is back over 7,985 points. But let's talk about one ASX 200 stock that is getting left out of this surge of goodwill.
That ASX 200 stock is construction products provider Fletcher Building Ltd (ASX: FBU).
Whilst most of the ASX 200 stocks are enjoying a lift in sentiment this Monday, Fletcher Building shares are getting left out in the cold. Fletcher stock closed at $3.01 last week but opened at $2.91 this morning. At the time of writing, the company is down a hefty 5.15% to $2.86 a share.
This is a reversal of fortunes for a company that has been on a bit of a rebound of late. Until today, Fletcher Building shares were sitting on a gain of more than 10% over the past month alone. Even after today's falls, this ASX 200 stock is up 5.15% since this time last month.
Saying that, Fletcher Building shares are nursing some painful losses if we zoom out a little. This company has lost a nasty 5% over 2024 to date. It also remains down by almost 45% over the past 12 months. Check all of that out for yourself below:
But what's going on this Monday that has caused Fletcher Building shares to sell off so decisively on a day when most ASX 200 stocks have recorded a rise?
Why has this ASX 200 stock slumped 5% today?
Today's falls in the Fletcher Building share price appear to stem from an ASX filing the company released this morning before market open.
This announcement told investors that Fletcher was currently experiencing "operational issues" with a cement transporting ship. The 'Marine Vessel Aotearoa Chief', which is owned by a third party, is reportedly currently docked at Northport on New Zealand's North Island "while inspections and repairs are made by the owner".
This ship is normally used by Fletcher to transport cement around the North Island from Fletcher's Golden Bay manufacturing facility.
It is currently unknown how long these repairs will take. However, Fletcher has told investors that these issues will likely result in the company taking a hit to its earnings:
Fletcher Building's preliminary assessment is that it expects the impact on FY25 earnings due to the disruption to be in the range of $10 million to $30 million, driven by the anticipated increased costs of supply from the range of mitigating actions expected to be adopted by it.
However, the actual impact will depend on a number of variables that are not yet known, including the duration of the issue, the mitigation actions available, the third-party costs associated with those mitigating actions and the impact on operations.
In the meantime, Fletcher has enacted contingency plans. These include "the use of its existing coastal barge and the greater use of road and rail options".
Even so, this news is not what investors would have wanted to hear from Fletcher this week. As such, they probably explain the significant share price weakness we are seeing with this ASX 200 stock today. Fletcher has confirmed that it will update the markets as more information becomes available.
