Why have Deliveroo shares tanked on their stock market debut?

A lack of profits, questionable governance and poor treatment of riders have all been identified as factors behind Deliveroo’s calamitous first day of trading. But which was most responsible? Ben Chu investigates

It was one of the biggest first day falls on record for a large company making its stock market debut. (AFP via Getty Images)

The takeaway food delivery company Deliveroo had a very disappointing stock market float on Wednesday.

Despite the company reducing the initial share price considerably in response to scepticism about the original £8.8bn market capitalisation price, the shares still sank by 30 per cent soon after trading began.

It was one of the biggest first-day falls on record for a large company making its stock market debut – and knocked £2bn off the firm’s initial valuation of £7.6bn.