JJB.L Share News (JJB)

With apologies to those of you who, after a week of seasonal indulgence, are sick of the sound of the word 'turkey', never mind the taste of it, here is an overview of the 'Turkeys of 2010', the stocks you did not want to be holding last year.Among FTSE All-Share constituents care home operator Southern Cross Healthcare was the worst performer, plunging 86% on the year, as losses mounted and the company relied on the support of its bankers.Losses in the year to September climbed to £47.4m from £19.8m, on sales of £959m, up from £937m. That did not bode well for a company likely to be squeezed by local authority budget cutbacks.Landlords of Southern Cross are considering asking other operators to take over the running of some of its homes after the company sought to negotiate a freeze or cut in rents, The Times reported on Friday.The board has been approached by other parties expressing potential interest in the group, so someone must believe the business is worth buying, though at what price is unknown.Sportswear retailer JJB Sports' turnaround plan has not exactly gone to plan in 2010. The shares plunged 81% as trading remained very tough, though the chain's new format stores apparently did better than the tired old pile 'em high older stores, which is some consolation.The company is proposing to raise at least £31.5m through a share placing and open offer of shares at 5p each. "The longer term funding requirements of the company will be assessed once management has completed its work on the business plan," the company said. In other words, this won't be the last cash call from this company in the near to medium term.There are to be changes at the top, too, with chairman John Clare stepping down after less than a year in the job to be replaced by restructuring specialist Mike McTighe, currently the chairman of Pace, Volex and WYG. Investments in pharmaceuticals companies can come up big when things go well but the reverse applies when the wheels come off. British cancer specialist Antisoma saw its shares plummet in late March after it put a late-stage trial of its lung cancer drug ASA404 on halt after test results showed that there was little or no prospect of demonstrating a survival benefit.Since then, the shares have stabilised but despite a late flourish on New Year's Eve, when the shares rose 5.8%, the stock finished the year down 81%.It's hard to believe that with the price of gold heading for the moon a gold miner would feature prominently among 2010's losers, but that is the case with loss making South African outfit Central Rand Gold. The problem for the company is that it is still largely at the development stage, a cash burning phase that has required the company to tap the market for funds more than once in 2010. The company lost three quarters of its market value during the course of the year.Shares in accident car hirer Helphire fell 74% in 2010 and the company said in November it has seen no improvement in its business since October, with conditions in respect of high fuel prices, reduced miles driven and lower accident frequency all hitting its figures. Net debt at end October was £154m, down from £165m in June. What was it I was saying about volatile pharmaceuticals stocks? Ark Therapeutics is another that has had a stinker of a year, with the shares losing almost two thirds of their value.The company was the subject of takeover speculation throughout the year after it revealed it had received a number of approaches from parties interested in buying the company. Bid discussions came to an end in August, since when the company has been battling on alone. It announced a major business restructuring and strategic repositioning in September which included plans to sell off its wound care business and to dispose of its manufacturing capabilities.All year long entertainment media retailer HMV's double-digit dividend yield had served as a clear indication of what the market thought about the company's future. With the likes of online retailer Amazon eating rapidly into HMV's market share and the UK company's own online offering unable to compete on price with Amazon and countless other competitors (including the supermarkets), the future looks bleak for one of the best known names on the high street.The company halved its interim dividend in December as first half losses piled up. I would not bet my house on the final dividend being maintained, either. Company management has not been asleep on the job and has seen the competitive threats coming, and has attempted to diversify into live music, but with VAT having risen to 20% and discretionary spending likely to remain subdued while consumers remain concerned about employment prospects, it is not hard to see why HMV lost 66% of its share value last year.Another company feeling the heat of competition from the internet is Yellow Pages publisher Yell Group, once a proud member of the FTSE 250 but now rubbing shoulders with the small caps.Its shares fell 63% last year, as the company struggled to make progress while burdened with massive debt. The good news is that the debt is down from more than £4bn in 2009; the bad news is that it is only just below £3bn. Not good for a company with a market capitalisation of £342m and projected sales for the year to 31 March 2011 of £2.1bn. Rounding out the top ten - or bottom ten, depending on how you look at it - are Mouchel (down 60%) and Luminar (down 59%).Not all outsourcing companies have suffered as a result of the coalition government's controversial spending cutbacks but Mouchel is certainly one that has. Chief executive officer Robert Cuthbert said in late October: "Some of the group's services have been affected by measures taken by the new government to address the budget deficit and by related cutbacks in the local authority market," adding that the "immediate outlook remains uncertain."That gloomy statement alerted the vultures and bidders have been circling. Construction and engineering group Costain emerged as one of the companies that has made an approach, but Mouchel rejected an indicative offer that valued Mouchel's shares at around 105.8p.December seems to be the month for Mouchel rebuffing suitors. In the final month of 2009 it rejected the approaches of rival VT Group which was offering a share exchange dealt that valued Mouchel at about 260p a share. Night club operator Luminar trades mostly under watery sounding brands Oceana and Liquid, but there has been nothing buoyant about trading recently. Chief executive Simon Douglas said in October: "The difficult trading environment experienced during the second half of the last financial year continued into the first half of this year."Management has been trying a number of approaches to lure more punters into its club including targeting customers not in the first flush of youth, and nights especially for university students. The former have the cash but, perhaps, no longer the inclination to do body popping and the robot on the dance floor. The latter seem to be having more fun protesting on the streets of London about tuition fees than they do spending money in clubs where they not only charge well over the odds for drinks but then serve up your change on a little dish in expectation of receiving a tip for the privilege of being ripped off.