Last minute.com shares fell below their IPO price
Tuesday, one week to the day after the Internet
company's shares started trading in London and on the
Nasdaq. The shares fell 37.5 pence, or 9.8 percent, to
345 pence in London, well below their 380 pence issue
price. The stock's decline began last Wednesday and
will likely go even further, analysts said.
"A lot of institutions flipped these shares," Alison
Sachs, Internet analyst at Lehman Brothers in London,
told CBSMarketWatch.com. "They didn't want to hold
anything valued this high." Indeed, the retail investors
that got a slice of the offering haven't even received
their shares yet -- so they're not the ones selling them
off. Yet.
To be sure, Lastminute (LMIN: news, msgs)'s not alone.
So-called "B-to-C," or business-to-consumer Net
companies in Europe have generally borne the brunt of
investors' sudden distaste for Internet shares. U.K.
online auctioneer QXL.com PLC (QXLC: news, msgs),
for instance, has dropped 50 percent from its high this
year. Tuesday alone, the company's shares fell 159
pence, or 12.7 percent, to 1,096 pence.
The dropoff in the sector also reflects what's going on in
the U.S. markets, said Lehman's Sachs, and the
widespread concern about interest rate hikes and
highly-valued shares in general.
Still, Lastminute.com could have been forgiven for
expecting a share price rise Tuesday. The company --
which sells last-minute deals on plane tickets, package
trips, parties, gifts and the like -- announced its inked a
pan-European agreement with AOL Europe that makes
Lastminute a "preferred partner" on AOL's UK, French,
and German travel, entertainment and shopping
channels.
Also, Lastminute.com said Tuesday that First-e, a U.K.
subsidiary of Dublin-based online financial services
company Enba PLC, will sponsor Lastminute's weekly
newsletter for a "six figure sum." The newsletter is
distributed by e-mail to the company's 1.1 million
registered subscribers. The two companies also plan to
let First-e customers buy goods and services on the
Lastminute.com using their First-e bank account, as
opposed to a credit card.
|
