Green Man’s flotation is proving a guessing game

WILL they, won’t they? The £100million stock market flotation of online video game retailer Green Man Gaming is starting to feel like a 1990s sitcom romance.

After delaying the Aim listing in September because of the turbulence that has rocked markets, it appears to have put its plans on ice yet again.

Not even shaving the price to £70million has helped get Green Man’s float over the line, according to my City moles.

I’m told to expect an announcement on yet another delay this week that could push the float, which was aimed at mid-October, back into November. The company could yet pull the whole thing if conditions do not improve.

It can’t help that Green Man’s adviser, Numis, has also been busy advising both Aston Martin and peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle on their less-than-impressive market debuts.

Aston Martin has fallen nearly 20 per cent since its float at the start of the month, shedding £900 million in value, while Funding Circle has slipped 16 per cent.

Green Man might have to cut its price further if it wants to avoid the same fate. PAUL Polman, the now red-faced boss of Marmite owner Unilever, will be bracing himself for a pasting this week.

The Anglo-Dutch company’s botched plans to up sticks to Rotterdam and lose its UK listing went down like a lead balloon. Now Polman has the chance to get back in shreholders’ good books on Thursday with strong third-quarter results. While there are no forecasts for the results, overall sales are likely to be down because Unilever has sold its spreads business as part of its plan to boost its performance after turning down Kraft Heinz and its £115billion cheque. THE march of the online retailers continues apace. On Wednesday, fashion website Asos is expected to reveal that for the first time its annual profits will hit £100million.

Shore Capital’s City scribbler Greg Lawless expects profits to surge by a quarter, thanks to an army of new shoppers overseas. International sales now account for two thirds of sales at Asos, which has a £4billion market capitalisation.

Last month’s sale of 2.4 per cent of the shares by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen has knocked the share price.

However, Lawless reckons the figures should reassure the market that the firm is a ‘structural winner’ in the shift to online shopping.