Parsley Box plans de-listing from AIM after share price collapse

Meal delivery firm Parsley Box said on Friday that it was planning to delist from AIM following the slump in its share price.

The company, which floated in March 2021 for 200p a share, proposed the cancellation of its trading on AIM and re-registration as a private company.

"There has been limited liquidity in the ordinary shares for some time and, consequently, the admission of the ordinary shares to trading on AIM does not necessarily offer investors the opportunity to trade in meaningful volumes or with frequency within an active market," Parsley Box said.

"With low trading volumes, the company's share price can move up or down significantly following trades of small volumes of ordinary shares. In the opinion of the directors, the adverse share price performance is detrimental to the perception of the group amongst customers, suppliers and other partners, which, in turn, has the potential to negatively impact its product development, staff morale and industry reputation."

It said that given the lower costs associated with private limited company status, the cancellation will "materially" reduce recurring administrative and adviser costs by around £400,000 a year, which the directors believe can be better spent supporting growth in the business.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Another day and another recent IPO goes up in smoke. After the disaster that was Made.com, meals delivery firm Parsley Box is set to cancel its AIM listing.

"Following an £84m flotation in March 2021 Parsley Box has served up a litany of disasters for shareholders and has effectively lost any support from the market.

"This was evident in a very sorry attempt at a fundraise by Parsley Box earlier this year as investors snubbed the chance to buy new shares and management had to step in.

"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?

"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."