Shares in Lastminute.com dive as investors sell

LONDON (Brand Republic) – Shares in Lastminute.com, the late bookings online retailer, dived 6% as shareholders abandoned the company following the end of a six-month lock-up period, during which certain investors were not allowed to sell their shares.

The shares closed down 9p or 4.89% at 175p yesterday. Its co-founders, Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox who own a 17% stake in the company, said in a statement that they have agreed to a further lock-in period in which they can not sell their shares.

Lastminute’s pre-tax losses narrowed from £11m to £9.2m during the three months from April to June 2000. Turnover for the quarter was £1.01m. The company has a £100m cash reserve following its flotation in March this year.

Lastminute recently announced a £59.8m purchase of Degriftour, its French rival. The company also said that it has enough money to keep going until mid-2002.

This article was first published on brandrepublic.com