Melrose (LSE: MRO), Pennon (LSE: PNN) and Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) have lagged the market.
What's worse than a falling FTSE 100 (UKX)?
Owning shares that are falling faster than the FTSE!
Here are three blue-chip losers from the last seven days.
1. Melrose
Melrose (LSE: MRO) has dropped 10% to 214p since last Thursday after releasing a somewhat mixed interim management statement.
The statement suggested that, while trading was in line with expectations for 2012, slower trends for certain businesses had started to become noticeable. The investment company also stated that its sales outlook for 2013 had become more uncertain, due to the "worsening of macroeconomic conditions internally".
Perhaps it's not all doom and gloom, however. The firm did go on to say that "opportunities to improve the Group exist, including those arising from the acquisition of Elster and this gives the Board confidence that Melrose will continue to prosper."
2. Pennon
The last seven days has seen the shares of Pennon (LSE: PNN) slide 4% to 603p. Pennon is the utility company that owns South West Water.
Pennon's share-price drop was prompted by a profit warning released last week, which stated that Viridor, the group's waste management business, would generate profits "somewhat below the bottom of the current range of market expectations".
The company blamed the shortfall in part on weak 'recyclate' prices, which analysts had previously forecast to rise during the second half of 2012.
3. Johnson Matthey
Slipping 1.3% to 2,241p, Johnson Matthey (LSE: JMAT) has been among the FTSE 100's main losers since this time last week.
The specialist chemicals manufacturer recently released its half-year results, which showed revenues dropping a dramatic 17%, from £5.9bn to just under £4.9bn. Profits also took a hammering, diving 6% to £183m. The disappointing performance was blamed on falling prices for precious metals.
There was some positive news for investors, though. A lower tax charge helped earnings stay at 73p per share and the dividend was actually increased by 3% to 15.5p per share.
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> Chris does not own any share mentioned in this article.
