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The current strikes by postal workers is not only impacting badly on small businesses, it is also causing headaches for major companies such as Barratt Developments, down 2¾p at 142p.
Britain's biggest housebuilder warned today that the success of its proposed £720.5 million fund raising may also be under threat if applications by shareholders to take up their rights are buried under mountains of undelivered mail.
The company has urged shareholders wanting to take up all, or part, of their rights entitlement to respond promptly following receipt of their provisional allotment letters.
Barratt said they should look at the Royal Mail website for an update on the status and impact of the industrial action before deciding how to return their allotment letters and cheques to the registrar by the deadline of 3 November.
Shareholders should also explore other means of delivering their allotment letters than Royal Mail.
Barratt announced plans to raise the extra cash last month with a placing of 72.9 million shares at 240p and a one-for-three rights issue of 545.5 million shares at 100p.
The terms were announced on the same day that Yellow Pages directory publisher Yell also revealed plans to tap shareholders for £500 million through a rights issue.
Yell was today still trying to thrash out a new financing deal with its bankers. The shares dropped a tenth - by 5¾p to 46¼p - at one point touching a low for the day of 41p.
Shares generally opened on a firm note as investors set about reversing the ill effects of yesterday's late sell-off and big falls for overseas markets.
The FTSE 100 Index rose 23.19 to 5215.65 of which oil giant BP accounted for 18 points on the back of better than expected third-quarter numbers. Its shares climbed 23¼p to 590½p after hiking third quarter profits 60%.
Broker Cazenove wasted little time in repeating its outperform rating on the shares, but rival Collins Stewart says it prefers Royal Dutch Shell, up 32½p at 1884½p, which reports on Thursday. Rival BG Group, reporting tomorrow, rose 19½p to 1143p.
Banking shares remain a weak market. EU demands for Dutch bank ING to split itself in two after receiving state aid has cast a shadow over the UK's banks which have also received taxpayer handouts.
Royal Bank of Scotland was the biggest faller, shedding 1.8p to 42.5p, while Lloyds Banking Group lost 2.34p to 87.1p.
Barclays remains flat following last week's sale of shares by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. The shares lost 9¾p at 342¾p.
Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline extended this week's run with a rise of 30p to 1260p ahead of third-quarter results tomorrow.
Social housing and care services provider Mears Group stood out with a jump of 3¼p at 276¼p following its latest trading update.
Chairman Bob Holt said this remained strong across all divisions.
The forecast full-year results are in line with management's expectations and the group has announced new contract awards worth in excess of £450 million since annual results were published back in March. The order book now stands at £1.7 billion.
HSBC expects consumer confidence to rebound as the UK economy recovers.
It its tipping a total of seven companies in the leisure sector which it expects to benefit from the improved trading background.
They include the big pub chains Punch Taverns, down 3¾p at 86¾p, Mitchells & Butlers, 4¼p dearer at 244½p, Enterprise Inns, 4¼p lower at 129p, Marston's, 1¾p off at 91p, and Greene King, 11p cheaper at 403p.
The broker says the outlook for costs, including food, labour, property and utilities is the most favourable it has been for years.
The recovery in consumer confidence should also boost demand for holidays next year which will be good news for Thomas Cook and Whitbread where it has overweight ratings.
But it has a neutral rating on Europe's biggest tour operator TUI Travel, ½p firmer at 242p, and pub chain JD Wetherspoon, down 3.1p at 475½p.
The weaker dollar gave a boost to the price of gold, which moved off three-week lows to trade at $1039 (£633.60) an ounce.
Cluff Gold slipped ½p to 77p after successfully commissioning its Angovia gold mine 40 kilometres north west of Yamoussoukro in the Ivory Coast.
Cluff has targeted annual production of 100,000 ounces at Angovia and its Kalaska mines during the last quarter of the year.
