3 FTSE Shares Crashing to New Lows

LONDON -- It's a long time since the FTSE 100 (FTSEINDICES: ^FTSE  ) last came close to a 52-week low -- in fact, it was as long ago as June 2012 when it touched the depths of 5,230 points. Since then, the index of top U.K. shares has soared to today's 6,771 points for a rise of about 30%, and that's even after last week's mini-slump from a 52-week high of 6,876.

But things haven't been quite so rosy for everyone. Here are three members of the various FTSE indexes slumping to new lows.

EVRAZ (LSE: EVR  )
Steel producer EVRAZ has seen its share price side ever lower, as the firm has been suffering from weak demand for its products -- and the price has hit a new 52-week low of 145 pence today. The price is now down about 56% since its high of 330 pence set in January this year.

After the firm recorded a loss for the year to December 2012, forecasts for EVRAZ are not glowing right now. There is effectively no profit expected this year, and the forecast return to something decent for 2014 would put the shares on a price-to-earnings ratio of 14, which at this stage does not look like a screaming bargain to me.

FirstGroup (LSE: FGP  )
Shares in FirstGroup famously slumped by more than 20% on May 20 after the transport firm's preliminary results were littered with bad news -- a profit warning, a dividend cut, and a rights issue. And since then, the shares have fallen further, dropping to a 52-week low of 123.4 pence today.

Having reached a high of 267 pence last September, the price is now down about 50% from its peak -- and we're still awaiting updated forecasts since the shock news.

MITIE (LSE: MTO  )
MITIE Group shares have not quite reached a 52-week low today, but they have slumped to their lowest price since June 2012, dipping as low as 260 pence today. And that's down 14% from November's 52-week peak price of 303 pence. Last week's 10% hike to the management services specialist's annual dividend didn't make much difference, even with an 8% rise in the firm's full-year revenue.

Profit being hit by write-offs and the company's net debt ballooning by £85 million to £192 million had more of an effect on the share price. But with forecasts indicating a 6% rise in earnings for the new year, putting the shares on a P/E of only about 10, and with a dividend yield of more than 4% predicted, could we be looking at an oversold bargain? Well, that's something only you can decide.

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