British Sky Broadcasting, Computacenter and Mulberry have slumped this morning.
The London market opened weaker this morning, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index (UKX) dropping 11 points to 5,472. Unfortunately, European bailout worries, China's slowing growth and a protracted US recovery continue to weigh on many shares. Year to date, the blue-chip index has lost almost 2%.
Around the market, some companies are suffering their own particular issues. Here are three names from various FTSE indices that have slumped today:
British Sky Broadcasting (LSE: BSY) dived 47p (7%) to 649p as details emerged of the latest Premier League television deal. The satellite broadcaster is set to spend £2.3 billion to cover 116 games during each of the 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons -- a deal that values each match at £6.6 million, up 40% on the current deal.
Sky's investors were also unnerved by BT (LSE: BT-A) successfully bidding £738 million for a total of 38 games, as well as the telecom group's launch of a new sports channel.
Elsewhere, Computacenter (LSE: CCC) slid 52p (15%) to 305p after warning shareholders that new business wins of late had come with some significant extra costs. The IT services specialist admitted that an additional £7 million charge, which would cover the recruitment of 700 new staff, would hurt profits during 2012.
Prior to today, the City was expecting Computacenter to deliver profits this year of £83m. A £470 million market cap may now be of interest to higher-risk income seekers, as the trailing 15p per share dividend offers a 5% yield.
Meanwhile, Mulberry (LSE: MUL) collapsed 441p (22%) to 1,572p following the fashion firm's annual results. Although sales jumped 38% to £169 million and profits surged 54% to £36 million, investors were concerned with an outlook statement that cited caution due to the adverse economic climate.
Given full-year earnings came in at 44p per share, today's price fall may not be that great a surprise to the company's shareholders. The valuation had looked priced to perfection and, even after this morning's drop, Mulberry's £937 million market cap is still equivalent to 36 times profits.
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