Report shows wide variations in global capital markets activity
Levels of corporate activity on global capital markets appear to have recovered significantly during 2010, but with wide regional variations, according to a report from leading global accounting and consulting network Nexia International.
The Global mid-map markets outlook 2011 report examines IPO levels and other key indicators for mid-market stock exchanges around the world and shows a genuinely global upturn in corporate activity still lacking momentum.
Mid-Cap Markets Report
The report highlights Poland, Canada and Australia as some of the mid-market IPO success stories of 2010.
Warsaw now rivals Moscow as the place to go public for mid-market companies from Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, with the city’s stock exchange ranked first in Europe by number of IPOs. Poland’s well-developed financial services infrastructure, together with IPOs of privatised former state companies, have helped establish a wide and active group of private investors in the country.
Australia escaped recession in 2008 or 2009, and its economy grew steadily in 2010, aided by a resource boom that has earned it a place in the world as one of the largest global suppliers of raw materials. To emphasize this point, the best-performing IPO was Doray Minerals, which saw its shares rise 630%. The country also benefits from a diverse investor group (40% foreign, 40% domestic institutions and 20% retail investors).
A strong banking sector, coupled with strong commodity prices, helped the Toronto Stock Exchange’s 2010 total for IPOs nearly double that of 2009. In addition, the international community continued to favour Toronto as a vehicle to listing with 71 new international listings in 2010.
Elsewhere, the report looks at European Union efforts to duplicate the success of AIM in the UK, a moderate increase in fund-raising activities in Singapore and American companies’ continuing struggle to raise cash needed for growth.