Singapore equity capital proceeds down 62% to US$1b

Proceeds in the first half of 2016 amounted to US$2.8b.

Local firms in Singapore tapping the equity capital markets (ECM) raised US$1.0b so far this year, a 62.3% decline in proceeds compared to the first half of 2016 when they raised around US$2.8b.

According to Thomson Reuters data, this is despite the increase in the number of ECM issuance in the said period.

Majority of the equity capital raisings by Singaporean companies were done through follow-on offerings with US$806.1m in proceeds, up 102.7% from the comparative period last year. Follow-on offerings accounted for 76.8% of Singapore ECM so far this year, while initial public offerings (IPO) captured 23.2% market share in terms of proceeds.

A total of eight IPOs were issued from Singapore companies in domestic and overseas stock markets so far this year, raising US$243.0m in proceeds, down 89.8% from the first half of last year. HRnetGroup Ltd, a Singaporean recruitment firm, launched its IPO in the Singapore Exchange mainboard, raising US$126.4m (S$174.6m) in proceeds. This is the biggest Singaporean IPO for the first half of 2017.

Total IPO issuance from Singaporean companies could potentially improve this year with the anticipated IPO of NetLink Trust, a subsidiary of SingTel, in the pipeline for a Singapore listing that could raise as much as US$2 billion.

DBS Group currently leads the ranking for Singapore ECM underwriting with US$308.1 million in related deals and captured 29.4% of the market share. BNP Paribas took second place with 15.1% market share, while United Overseas Bank and UBS followed closely behind with 10.9% and 10.1% market share, respectively.