18th Nov 2022 12:53
(Alliance News) - Last year was "anything but a vintage year for initial public offerings", AJ Bell said, as Parsley Box Group PLC on Friday became the latest recent IPO to exit the London market.
On Friday, Parsley Box said it it proposing to re-register as a private limited company as it set December 14 as date for a general meeting to vote on the plan.
The Edinburgh-based meal delivery focused on delivering ready meals to over 65-year-olds started trading on London's AIM market in March 2021 with a placing price of 200 pence per share but was trading at just 4.30p on Friday afternoon, even after a whopping 161% rise on the day.
"Another day and another recent IPO goes up in smoke," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
"After the disaster that was Made.com, meals delivery firm Parsley Box is set to cancel its AIM listing. Following an GBP84 million flotation in March 2021 Parsley Box has served up a litany of disasters for shareholders and has effectively lost any support from the market."
Made.com debuted on the London Main Market in June of last year, so it lasted less than a year and a half as a listed company. Earlier this month, Next PLC agreed to buy assets of the failed furniture seller out of administration in a GBP3.4 million deal.
In late October, Parsley Box confirmed that 2022 trading remained in line with market guidance. Back then it noted cash reserves in excess of GBP3.5 million and said it was in the process of assessing the various potential sources of capital available to the company to fund its medium-term growth plans.
In September, Parsley Box reported a half-year loss to June 30 of GBP2.8 million, narrowed from GBP5.4 million a year ago.
Revenue, however, dropped 32% to GBP9.6 million from GBP14.0 million. Notably, revenue from new customers plummeted to GBP899,000 from GBP3.0 million amid the ongoing cost of living crisis in the UK. To adapt, the company back then said it launched an "everyday low price" meal range.
"While the cost of living crisis didn't help, the proposition behind Parsley Box always looked a little shaky. Why would people pay more to have premium ready meals delivered when they could easily get them from supermarkets at a much cheaper price?" Mould said.
"The emergence from the pandemic, which had helped drive order growth as the company's baby boomer demographic was stuck at home, saw orders slow markedly."
The AJ Bell analyst noted that 2021 is proving to be "anything but a vintage year for IPOs", with new names such as In The Style Group PLC, Revolution Beauty Group PLC and Seraphine Group PLC seeing their valuations collapse, while food delivery platform Deliveroo PLC is worth around just a third of its value at IPO.
In The Style was quoted at 13.77p on Friday, compared to its 200p IPO price, and Revolution Beauty at 19.00p, compared to 160p. Meanwhile, Seraphine was quoted at 11.59p, down from 279.40 back in July 2021.
Deliveroo was priced at 95.68p, down from its IPO price of 390p.
By Sophie Rose; [email protected]
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
MEAL.LDeliverooITS.LRevolution BeautyBUMP.LNext