SINGAPORE — The volume of initial public offerings (IPOs) in the first nine months of the year has already exceeded last year’s total, according to data in the latest EY Global IPO Trends: Q3 2017 report by Ernst & Young. In terms of capital raised, this would be the best year for global IPO performance in a decade.

In the period from January to September, there were 1,156 IPOs raising US$126.9 billion (S$173 billion) in capital — a healthy increase of 59 per cent by number of IPOs compared with the same period last year.

In terms of proceeds, the value of transactions rose by 55 per cent over the same period last year.

In Singapore, the US$1.7 billion IPO for telecommunications company NetLinkNBN Trust was among the mega-deals in the second half of the year which saw the Asia-Pacific equity markets for new issuance surge. It was the largest IPO in Asia-Pacific for the third quarter.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has enjoyed growing success in attracting IPOs by regional companies from the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) outside the island state, including property developer Aspen (Group) Holdings and shopper360, a Malaysian provider of shopper marketing services that listed in June, noted the report.

Mr Max Loh, EY Asean and Singapore managing partner, Ernst & Young, said: “Asia-Pacific remained the leader in IPO activity in the third quarter with robust momentum going into the fourth quarter. In the longer term, strong economic fundamentals and continued growth augur well for the pipeline of companies coming to market.

“The SGX remains an appealing equity springboard for South-east Asian companies that enjoy robust fundamentals and proven business models. We expect a growing number of listings by FinTech and technology-based businesses, supplementing a strong historical pipeline of companies from the property, consumer and industrial sectors.”

The number of IPOs in the Asia-Pacific in the first nine months increased by 72 per cent year-on-year from last year to 690 IPOs, while capital raised is up 28 per cent to US$53.9 billion. The region saw five of the world’s 10 most active stock exchanges by number of IPOs and four by proceeds in the year to date, said the report.

Mainland China exchanges were the most active in the region, hosting 353 IPOs in the period January to September, ahead of Hong Kong (105), Asean (70), Australia (61), Japan (57) and South Korea (42).

The industrials sector was the most active for IPOs in the first three quarters of the year, accounting for close to a quarter of the total number of deals, ahead of technology (17 per cent) and consumer products (13 per cent).

Compared to the same period last year, year-to-date deals and proceeds in Asean were 27 per cent and 58 per cent higher respectively. To date, 70 deals have raised a collective total of US$6.3 billion in proceeds in the Asean markets.

In the third quarter, SGX topped the Asean leader board with the listing of NetLink NBN Trust. Other exchanges in Asean also saw a robust quarter: Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange raised US$876.9 million, the Stock Exchange of Thailand raised US$624.2 million, while the Philippine Stock Exchange raised US$114.8 million.

However, a worsening of the political situation in the Korean Peninsula presents a risk to Asia-Pacific’s IPO markets, particularly in South Korea itself, noted Ernst & Young.

Overall, the global IPO market performance is on course for its best year since 2007.

The full-year worldwide issuance for new equity listings is projected to be in the range of 1,600 to 1,700 new listings, with total proceeds expected to raise between US$190 billion and US$200 billion.

“At the nine-month point of the year, the global IPO market has continued to build strong momentum. Given the strengthening IPO sentiment with relative low volatility and valuations at high levels, we expect a year-end rally in the fourth quarter, traditionally the busiest IPO quarter of the year,” said Dr Martin Steinbach, EY Global and Europe, Middle East, India and Africa IPO leader.