Singapore firms raised US$2.6b from equity YTD

Equity raising activity in Q2 recovered and jumped 81.2% from Q1.

Singaporean companies tapping the equity capital markets (ECM) raised US$2.6b so far this year, a 128.4% increase in proceeds compared to the first half of 2017, Thomson Reuters revealed. The number of ECM issuance also increased 34.6% from a year ago.

During the second quarter of 2018, Singapore ECM activity grew as proceeds reached US$1.6b, 81.2% higher from the first quarter of 2018 (US$909.5m), and three-times the proceeds raised in the second quarter of 2017 (US$504.4m).

Initial public offerings (IPO) by Singaporean companies in domestic and overseas stock markets raised US$467.1m so far this year, up 81% in proceeds compared to last year as the number of IPOs grew 30%.

Follow-on offerings from Singaporean issuers raised higher proceeds at US$1.9b, a 115.6% increase from the comparative period last year as the number of issuances picked up 25%. Follow-on offerings accounted for 72.6% of Singapore ECM so far this year, whilst IPOs captured 18.3% market share in terms of proceeds. Meanwhile, convertible offerings registered 9.1% market share.

Real Estate accounted for the majority of the nation’s ECM activity with 91.7% market share worth US$2.3b in proceeds, a 239% surge from over a year ago. Seven out of the top ten deals this year were from REITs.

Notably, Frasers Logistics & Industrial Trust (FLT) raised $476.3m (US$355.9m) from its preferential offering in June. The deal is currently the biggest Singapore equity offering this year. Meanwhile, Sasseur REIT’s $396m (US$300.7m) SGX-listed IPO is the largest Singapore IPO to date.

DBS Group currently leads the ranking for Singapore ECM underwriting with US$710.7m in related proceeds, capturing 27.8% of the market share. Citi follows behind in second place with 18.4% market share and HSBC with 14.7% market share at the third spot.