For at least a decade, the FTSE 100 has fallen behind its global peers. Over the past five years, the Footsie is up 7%, while the US S&P 500 has soared by 77.3%. Over one year, the UK index is up 2.2%, while the US index has leapt by 25.5%.
Of course, some FTSE 100 shares have done far worse than others in 2023/24. For example, there are the five stocks listed below, which I’ve identified as the index’s ‘dirtiest dogs’ over 12 months.
Five Footsie flops
These are the FTSE 100’s biggest fallers over the past year:
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| Company | Business | Share price | Market value | One-year change* | Five-year change* |
| Reckitt Benckiser Group | Consumer goods | 4,301p | £30bn | -30.6% | -27.2% |
| Entain | Gambling & betting | 814p | £5.2bn | -37.2% | +29.4% |
| Prudential | Insurance & investments | 713.8p | £19.6bn | -37.4% | -49.8% |
| Burberry Group | Fashion/retail | 1,206.5p | £4.3bn | -51.5% | -38.0% |
| St James’s Place | Financial advice | 432.6p | £2.4bn | -63.9% | -60.4% |
There appears to be little in common to link these five flagging stocks. In terms of market value, they range from modest (under £2.5bn) to huge (£30bn). Likewise, their main markets are very different, though two companies do operate in the financial sector.
What’s clear from my table is that all five firms have severely disappointed shareholders in 2023/24. Share-price declines at the five range from over three-tenths to almost two-thirds.
What’s gone wrong at these businesses? Shares in both Reckitt Benckiser Group and Burberry Group plunged after they revealed falling sales in key markets and countries. That’s not a good look for consumer-facing firms.
Entain has a similar problem, with revenues taking a tumble after losing market share in the UK and Germany. St James’s Place is under investigation by the UK financial regulator for overcharging its clients, which is not a great place to be.
If I had been a shareholder in any of these groups, I’d be pretty cheesed off. Fortunately, I’m not, but I know well the pain of making investment howlers. Indeed, in almost four decades of investing, my three worst trades have lost me close to £1m. Ouch.
Another Footsie faller
Though I’m a value investor and bargain hunter, these smashed-up shares don’t grab my attention. Instead, I’m keen to increase my family portfolio’s holding in a different consumer-goods giant: Diageo (LSE: DGE).
Like Reckitt and Burberry, Diageo’s shares took a knock in 2023/24. As I write, this stock stands at 2,824.33p, valuing this alcoholic-drinks Goliath at a hefty £62.8bn. This makes it #8 in the FTSE 100 by size.
Over the past year, Diageo shares have tumbled by 22.8%, largely due to a sales setback in Latin America and the Caribbean. Young adults are drinking less alcohol than previous generations, perhaps due to the legalisation of cannabis in several nations and US states. Over five years, the stock has dropped by 9.4%.
My wife and I bought Diageo shares for 2,806.6p in December 2023, well below their 52-week high of 3,779.5p on 25 April 2023, almost a year ago. I have high hopes for a comeback for this stock, which pays me a dividend yield of 2.9% a year while I wait.
Of course, Diageo’s sales could slump further, hitting revenues, profits, and cash flows. And the cost-of-living crisis is crimping consumer spending. Even so, we are in Diageo for the long run!
