Virgin Mobile has been forced to deny press speculation that it is valued too high

Richard Branson's Virgin Mobile is timetabled to float on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with Premier Foods making the jump a day earlier.

Premier, which owns Branston Pickle and Typhoo Tea, is expecting to be valued at �607m ($1.1bn), or 245p a share.

Virgin Mobile is hoping to see itself valued between �588m and �713m.

The phone firm plans to see its shares for between 235p and 285p.

In a pickle?

Virgin Mobile has however been forced to deny continuing press speculation that it may have to settle for a smaller listing price - or even cancel the float - because of some investor concern that it is over-valuing itself.

"The feedback that we're getting is that the roadshow is going really well ... and there are no plans to change the price range whatsoever," a Virgin spokeswoman said.

Virgin Mobile is the UK's fifth largest mobile phone service with 4.1 million customers. It was launched in 1999.

Premier Foods, owned by US private equity firm Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, last year reported annual sales of �774m and operating profits of �68.1m.