AO World share price falls 10 per cent to below IPO price
Shares in online white goods retailer AO World fell more than 10 per cent to 268.3p in early afternoon trading, after a broker set a "sell" rating on its stock.
In a note, Panmure Gordon urged investors to "capitalise on the unjustified level of price appreciation over the last quarter".
This is a high quality e-commerce business but the intrinsic worth of the stock is just 152p, half the prevailing market price.
Today's fall, which followed a five per cent drop yesterday, means AO World shares are now well below their listing price of 285p – a price which the online retailer's bankers subsequently admitted was "punchy".
In September analysts at Jefferies, which was joint global coordinator on the IPO, issued a note saying that "in the rear-view mirror, [the] IPO valuation looks punchy".
But the company has posted an impressive performance since its IPO. Last month it published figures showing revenues from its website had risen 38 per cent in the third quarter, with total revenues rising 26 per cent, although that was partly thanks to the Black Friday shopping frenzy.