Regent Inns shares plunge again

The entire company – which also owns Walkabout and Old Orleans – is now worth just £1.4million and wants to ‘delist’ from the stock exchange to save money.

It believes the move could save it £200,000 a year in admin and legal costs – as well as allowing it to restructure away from the public spotlight.

Jim Glover, the company’s non-executive chairman, said: ‘The private company arena is now the most practical one for Regent and will provide a more suitable environment in which to manage the company.

‘After much consideration, the board now regards the delisting to be in the best interests of the shareholders of Regent as a whole. It is recommending this course of action to shareholders accordingly.’

Regent also revealed that trading had ‘not materially changed’ since its last financial report, with like-for-like sales down 11.4 per cent in the period from 28 December.

If the move is agreed by at least three-quarters of shareholders, Regent will be taken off the stock market in June, meaning people will no longer be able to buy or sell shares in the company in a public market.

The share price fell more than a third on announcement of the news, to just 1.25p. Less than two years ago, it stood at 117p.

Published: 28 Apr 2009