Choppy waters force Yes Television to delay float

Yes Television, the video-on-demand service company, yesterday became the latest casualty of the plunging markets as its advisers, Robert Fleming, decided to delay its £600m float.

The move follows a similar decision by AltaVista, the US-based Net portal, which delayed its $250m (£157m) public offering on Saturday as a result of the previous day's Nasdaq slump. Deutsche Telekom has priced the flotation of its T-Online International subsidiary close to the bottom of its 26 to 32-euro range.

A spokesman for Yes, which was due to be priced ahead of its public debut today, said: "We have decided to hold off and look at how the market performs before we price the shares." But he added: "Unless the markets are absolutely in freefall, we would expect to move forward this week." He said it was "a fair assumption" that the shares, expected to fetch between 225p and 275p, would be be sold for less.

Retail investors who have registered interest in Yes shares are advised to monitor the group's website. The company is expected to make a formal announcement today.

Wealth Management Software, which provides integrated software to the financial services market, yesterday said it would proceed with its AIM flotationtoday. The shares have yet to be priced but the placing is expected to raise £25m to £30m. The company is expected to be valued at about £75m before new money.