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Over the past year, the FTSE 100 index has risen in value by 11%. That’s a pretty good outcome, given the short, sharp crash that global shares underwent in early April.
However, the above return excludes dividends — regular cash payouts made by some companies to shareholders. The FTSE 100 Total Return Index (known as TRIUKX) is up 15.1% over 12 months. In historical terms, that’s a pretty good result.
The FTSE’s flops
Of course, not all Footsie shares have had a good year. Indeed, the share prices of 32 index members have lost value over one year. These losses range from 0.8% to 43.1%, with the average decline being 16.3%.
These are the FTSE 100’s two biggest slumpers over 12 months:
| Company | Business | Market value | One-year change | Five-year change |
| Croda International | Speciality chemicals | £4.0bn | -30.8% | -49.8% |
| WPP | Advertising & public relations | £4.6bn | -43.1% | -30.0% |
At their 52-week high, shares in Croda International hit 4,335p on 27 September 2024. As I write, they trade at 2,868p, more than a third (-33.8%) below this peak. What more, this stock has almost halved over the past five years, destroying around £4bn in shareholder value.
The FTSE 100’s wooden spoon goes to communications giant WPP, whose shares plunged on 9 July after it released weak results. At its 52-week peak, the WPP share price hit 903p on 9 December 2024. Currently, it is 431p, losing more than half (-52.3%) of its value in just over seven months. Ouch.
Catching a falling knife?
The third of my trio of Footsie failures is Bunzl (LSE: BNZL), a British distributor of workplace supplies. (Investing anecdote: after buying these shares, I kept seeing Bunzl trolleys being pushed around by hotel cleaners during my Spanish holiday in May!)
On Wednesday, 16 April, Bunzl unveiled results to which the market took an instant dislike. That day, Bunzl shares crashed by over a quarter (-25.6%), leaving shareholders reeling. This stock is now 29% lower over one year, but 3.4% ahead over five years.
Note that the above returns all exclude dividends, which help to soften the blow of slumping share prices. For example, following its price slump, Bunzl stock now offers a cash yield of 3.2% a year.
One old City saying warns investors, “Never catch a falling knife” (lest it cuts their fingers). However, I am often drawn to ‘fallen angels’ — otherwise sound companies whose shares take temporary knocks. I think Bunzl fits in this category, so my wife and I bought this stock at 2,275p a share on 16 April.
Bunzl share price now stands at 2,308p, just 1.5% above our buy price. But I have high hopes for a price recovery, given that the stock now trades on a modest 15.5 times historic earnings and delivers an earnings yield nearing 6.5% a year.
Then again, what if I’m wrong? The worst of President Trump’s US import tariffs could do great damage to Bunzl’s North American operations, from which much of its profits come. Also, reduced revenues and lower margins could do more harm. Even so, I still plan to own this undervalued business for the long term.
