Yell, the owner of business directory Yellow Pages, has eased jitters among investment bankers by saying it was still on track for flotation, a report said.

John Davis, Yell's chief financial officer, said the company was "not deterred at all" by a decision by Punch Taverns to pull its stock market flotation, the Financial Times said.

Biotech company Ark Therapeutics also abandoned float plans on Thursday.

Yell's confirmation followed the firm's failure in a results statement, showing a 4.8% rise in underlying group earnings last year, to update investors, as had been expected, on flotation plans.

Details of Yell's transformation into a listed firm could come next week, sources told the newspaper.

The firm, which BT sold to venture capitalists last year for �2.1bn, is estimated by some financial experts to be worth as much as �4bn today.

Flotation pipeline

Pubs group Punch pulled its flotation on Wednesday after a lukewarm response to the listing of music firm HMV.

HMV shares, which the company had hoped would trade within a range of between 190p and 220p, have received a lukewarm reception, closing at just 167.5p on Thursday.

Other firms scheduled for flotation include bookmaker William Hill, oil services group John Wood, and retailers Burberry and Focus Wickes.