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Embattled DTC group Parsley Box has set out a timetable for cancelling its listing on London’s junior exchange.
The decision on the delisting comes after the company revealed last month it was exploring options to leave the AIM exchange follow a disastrous year since floating.
Parsley Box, which sells ambient meals directly to the over-65 demographic, said the cancellation of its shares would give it “greater opportunities” to raise additional capital in the future.
Following a review of it options, the group said this morning that the directors concluded the delisting was ” in the best interests of the company and its shareholders as a whole”.
The shares fell 9% this morning to 1.5p on the confirmation of the move.
Parsley Box floated at 200p a share in March 2021, valuing the group at more than £80m.
Profit warnings and stalling growth as the business battled supply chain issues, input cost inflation and a downturn in demand sent shares tumbling throughout 2021, making it the worst performing IPO of the year.
A cash call in December as the company asked investors for more funds to turn the business around pushed the share price down further to 40p.
The company will now hold a general meeting for shareholders to vote on the plans on 14 December, with the last day of dealings in shares on AIM scheduled to be 21 December.
Parsley Box will then re-register as a private company by 30 December.
Morning update
Consumer confidence has taken a turn for the better this month but still remains near historic lows as inflation continues to squeeze household budgets.
The monthly index from GfK this morning revealed a three-point increase in its measure of consumer confidence to -44 for November.
All measures were also up in comparison with October, but GfK warned consumer confidence remained at a near historic low.
Joe Staton, client strategy director at the data insights firm, said the rise was “likely to reflect nothing more than a collective sigh of relief as a new prime minister takes charge following the alarming fiscal antics we saw in September”.
“This is not the end of the beginning,” he added. “External factors have changed little and, with UK inflation recently hitting a new high, more bad news is inevitable.
“Household budgets remain shrouded in massive uncertainty with fresh jumps in food prices, energy still uncomfortably expensive, the prospect of new interest rate rises pressurising mortgage and rent payments, potential future hikes in council tax and squeezed real pay.”
The measure for the general economic situation of the country during the past 12 months is up two points at -67, but it is still 27 points lower than in November 2021.
Expectations over the coming 12 months have improved by three points to -58, although this is still 35 points lower than a year ago.
The index measuring changes in personal finances over the past 12 months went up four points to -24 and by five points to -29 for the forecast for the coming year.
The major purchase index is up three points to -38, which is 35 points lower than this month last year, and the savings index is up eight points this month at +21 - a six-point improvement on this time last year.
“Consumers are looking for a festive cocktail of certainty and optimism not this mishmash of austerity and pessimism,” Staton said.
“Good news remains in short supply as many people struggle to manage the purse-strings during this protracted and painful cost-of-living crisis.”
UK retail sales have rebounded in October, growing more than expected, but remained below pre-pandemic levels.
Volumes increased 0.6%, compared with a 1.5% drop in September, according to the latest datat from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The bounce follows weak sales in September as shops shut and the country observed an additional bank holiday for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
However, sales volumes fell 2.4% in the three months to October compared with the previous three months, reflecting the impact of surging prices and continuing the downward trend since the summer of 2021.
Increases over the month were seen in all of the main sectors apart from food stores, where sales volumes fell by 1% in October 2022, 4.1% below their pre-Covid levels in February 2020.
Non-food stores sales volumes rose by 1.1% in October and were 1.7% below February 2020 levels.
Automotive fuel sales volumes rose by 3.3%, following a fall of 1.2% in September; these were 6.9% below their February 2020 levels.
The proportion of retail sales taking place online was 26.1% in October 2022, remaining at a broadly consistent level since May 2022.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics for the ONS, said: “Looking at the broader picture, retail sales continue their downward trend seen since summer 2021 and are below where they were pre-pandemic.”
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, added: “Rising retail sales continue to mask a fall in volumes, as inflation continued to inflict pain on retailers and consumers alike.
“There were drops in purchases of household electricals, while key goods such as pharmaceuticals and footwear held up slightly better. Consumer confidence improved slightly as the political turmoil of recent months began to abate.
“Retailers are hoping sales will pick up a little as the World Cup and festive season approaches, but there is little chance of them catching up with current double-digit inflation.”
The FTSE 100 opened 0.5% higher to 7,382.05pts this morning.
Early risers included AG Barr, up 3.3% to 492.7p, PayPoint, up 1.5% to 540p, and Fever-Tree, up 1.3% to 1,057p.
Fallers included Naked Wines, down 2.9% to 95.5p, SSP Group, down 2.8% to 205.1p, and Domino’s Pizza Group, down 2.2% to 272.6p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 ended the day just 0.1% in the red to 7,346.54pts following the Autumn Statement.
Shares in Finsbury Food Group increased 1.1% to 92p after a positive AGM trading update talking up continnued “robust” growth in the new financial year.
Other risers yesterday included Bakkavor, up 1.6% to 93p, Imperial Brands, up 2.7% to 2,109p, Domino’s Pizza Group, up 2.5% to 278.6p, Greencore, 2.5% to 70.9p, and Virgin Wines UK, up 1.9% to 71.3p.
Ocado suffered more profit taking by investors follow the recent rally on news of Asian expansion. The shares plunged another 7.6% to 671p yesterday, but the stock remains 40% up this month.
THG was also down 1.3% to 66.6p.
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