Strong year for City flotations
LONDON’S listings market is bouncing back to pre-recession highs, as an increasing number of companies make their debut on the London Stock Exchange.
Research by Capita Asset Services forecasts main market initial public offerings (IPOs) are likely to be worth £11.7bn this year, smashing the £8.7bn figure in 2011 that was largely raised by the Glencore float.
Capita, which analysed the volume and value of IPOs across the London Stock Exchange’s main, AIM and international markets, said that, overall, IPOs would drum up £18.5bn this year – more than twice the £8.3bn raised last year.
In 2006, a record year for listings, £25.6bn of shares were sold in 307 IPOs. In the year to August 2014, £11.6bn has been raised through 92 IPOs, and this should reach £18.5bn by the year end, Capita forecast.
On the junior AIM market, only 55 IPOs have been staged so far this year, compared with 325 in 2005. But the average of £32m each raised by these 55 companies is more than at any point since records began.
Capita said consumer-related companies in particular were flooding the market. About 32 companies, one in every three floats, were in consumer goods and services and these accounted for 57 per cent of all the IPO money raised so far this year.
Justin Cooper, of Capita Asset Services, said: “It’s no coincidence consumer companies are dominating the picture as spending in the UK has picked up sharply. We are a long way ahead of where we were just 12 months ago, and 2015 will likely be even stronger.”