SINGAPORE - The overall number of initial public offerings (IPOs) - domestic and cross-border - by Singapore issuers was up in the first six months of this year, with 12 listings raising US$459 million or 78 per cent more year on year, a report said.

At 12, the number of listings in the first half-year was up from 10 in the same period a year ago, but the annual number of Singapore IPO listings has been on the decline in the last decade, the Baker McKenzie report highlighted. Singapore issuers were also not as active as their counterparts in Asia in the first half of the year.

Domestic capital raising by Singapore issuers rose by 64 per cent, although the total number of issuances halved. On the other hand, the number of cross-border listings went up by 300 per cent in volume and 166 per cent in value.

Hong Kong and Australia proved to be popular destinations for cross-border IPOs. By sector, industrial companies made up nearly 40 per cent of the cross-border IPOs by value, while real estate was in second place at 22 per cent. These include companies such as HPC Holdings and ZACD Group.

Meanwhile, "Singapore has been rolling out programmes to boost its competitiveness and to attract technology companies to list in the local bourse", the report said.

These include tying up with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange to encourage tech and healthcare firms to list on both exchanges by helping them with the pre-listing stage as well as during the listing process.