S'pore firms' IPOs boost equity capital markets

$9.3b raised by S'pore-based companies this year, an increase of 44% over last year

The report noted that US$6.9 billion (S$9.3 billion) in total has been raised by Singapore-domiciled companies, a rise of 44 per cent over last year. PHOTO: ST FILE

The increase in the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) by Singapore-based companies this year has boosted activity in the local equity capital markets, a Thomson Reuters report said yesterday.

Equity capital markets (ECMs) exist between companies looking to raise money and financial institutions. This may involve IPOs or other derivative instruments.

The report noted that US$6.9 billion (S$9.3 billion) in total - across 67 issuers - has been raised by Singapore-domiciled companies, a rise of 44 per cent over last year.

IPOs raised US$4.2 billion of this, a 52.7 per cent increase compared with last year while the number of listings rose from 21 last year to 31 this year. Follow-on public offerings, which are shares issued by a public company that has already been listed, captured US$2.47 billion, a 36.3 per cent increase from last year. The number of these offerings increased from 27 to 35.

Home-grown company NetLink NBN Trust's US$1.7 billion IPO in July takes top spot.

Games start-up SEA came second, listing in October and raising proceeds of US$989.3 million in its New York offering.

According to Thomson Reuters data, at least 14 IPOs have raised a total of US$2.1 billion in proceeds during this quarter.

The real estate industry, which has seen the mainboard listings of Keppel-KBS US Reit in October and Cromwell European Reit last month, accounts for the majority of ECM proceeds this quarter. Property listings raised US$3.5 billion or 50.2 per cent of market share, a bump of 8.2 per cent from last year.

The high-technology industry raised proceeds of at least US$1.7 billion this year, a huge increase over last year's US$99.4 million.

Equity listings on both the main and Catalist boards grew by 40 per cent this year, with coffee shop operator Kimly's US$30.7 million IPO the largest on the secondary board.

Bookrunners have also cashed in on the action, with top-ranked DBS Group Holdings witnessing a decrease in its share of ECM activity but still raking in US$34.9 million in fees, a 31.6 per cent rise.

Morgan Stanley, the second-largest bookrunner by fees, saw its ECM fees jump significantly to US$21.2 million on the back of a 9.9 per cent rise in ECM share.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 14, 2017, with the headline S'pore firms' IPOs boost equity capital markets. Subscribe