Ben Chu: Applus floating into trouble

Outlook Shares in Applus slumped around 17 per cent this week, only two months after the services group floated in Spain. The online travel company eDreams has dropped 55 per cent since going public in April.

Here in the UK, Saga is 5.5 per cent down since going public in May. Questions are being asked of the investment banks who oversaw these offerings. It’s a reminder IPOs can be over-priced by bankers, as well as under-priced. Vince Cable has been making that point rather strenuously in recent months.

The Royal Mail share price yesterday, by the way, was 32 per cent below the January peak, a time when the Business Secretary was being crucified for short-changing the taxpayer.