The FTSE 100 index has has a good 12 months, adding more than 1,110 points since 5 October 2020. That’s a gain of almost a fifth (+18.7%). However, not all of the Footsie’s 101 members (one stock is dual-listed) have enjoyed this boom. Indeed, several shares have grossly under-performed the index over 12 months. Hence, I went rummaging in the FTSE 100’s bargain bin to find some cheap shares to buy.
The FTSE 100’s winners and losers
Since 5 October 2020, the world has changed significantly. Back then, we battled Covid-19 infections while hoping for vaccine news. Then, on ‘Vaccine Monday’ (7 November 2020) came news of effective vaccines against coronavirus. This lit a fire under UK shares, sending prices soaring until August 2021. However, as autumn arrived, share prices eased off. As I write, the FTSE 100 stands at 7,065.07 points, down 2.2% from its 52-week high.
Over the past 12 months, 82 of the FTSE 100’s 101 stocks have risen in value. These gains range from 264.6% to just 0.9%. The average increase across all 82 winners is almost two-fifths (+39.2%). That’s more than double the wider index’s gain of 18.7%, largely because it excludes losers. At the other end of the scale lie the FTSE 100’s biggest losers over 12 months. These 19 stocks have lost between 2.0% and 37.7% of their value, with the average loss being roughly a seventh (-14.6%).
The Footsie’s five biggest losers
At the bottom of my table lie the FTSE 100’s five biggest losers over 12 months, in places 97 to 101. These beaten-down shares have underperformed their index by wide margins. Here they are:
| Company | Sector | 12-month loss |
| Intertek Group | Product testing | -25.5% |
| Reckitt Benckiser Group | Consumer goods | -26.3% |
| Polymetal International | Precious metals | -26.9% |
| Fresnillo | Precious metals | -37.3% |
| Ocado Group | Online grocer | -37.7% |
As you can see, losses among these five FTSE 100 flops range from more than a quarter (-25.5%) to almost two-fifths (-37.7%). The average loss across all five losers is more than three-tenths (-30.8%). The ‘best’ loser is Intertek Group, a British assurance, inspection, product testing, and certification company. Intertek’s stock has zigzagged up and down since October 2017, but has basically gone nowhere over the past four years.
The biggest loser among my FTSE 100 laggards is online supermarket Ocado Group. This go-go growth stock has seen its highly valued shares plummet over the past year. On 28 January 2021, with Ocado shares trading at 2,854p, I wrote, “I would not buy this FTSE 100 share today. For me, Ocado looks like a bubble waiting to burst”. Today, this FTSE 100 share hovers around 1,670.5p, down almost 1,185p. That’s a whopping dive of almost three-sevenths (-41.5%) in just over eight months. Ouch.
Manic miners
Notice that there are two miners of precious metals on my list: Mexican silver miner Fresnillo and Polymetal, an Anglo-Russian miner of gold, silver, and copper. Both stocks have crashed over the past 12 months. Predicting the future direction of silver and gold prices is fiendishly difficult. Even so, I feel there may be value hidden in these two bombed-out FTSE 100 miners.
Lastly, I’ve found one stock that I don’t own but would happily buy today: Reckitt Benckiser Group, a leading provider of fast-moving consumer goods. A year ago, this FTSE 100 share peaked at 7,774p, versus 5,574p today. I see this £22 price fall as overdone and would therefore buy this great British business today. However, I could be wrong and Reckitt could continue to be a value trap, as it has been over the past five years!
[fool_stock_chart ticker=LSE:RKT]
