APRA is looking at the big picture – the stability of the banking system. So, while its proposal to phase out hybrids might make sense from that perspective, it’s going to deprive many of an investment option that has delivered healthy income streams.
In the past few months, shareholders have been receiving more attention from fraudsters who have been impersonating individuals via identity theft to steal their shares. Tragically, self-funded retirees are often vulnerable with many still reliant on snail mail.
Billion-dollar game – IPO parade not slowing down
Strong momentum in the IPO market has continued unabated, with 61 new listings in the first half, according to the latest IPO Watch Australia Mid-Year Report issued by HLB Mann Judd.
Marcus Ohm, partner in the firm’s corporate and audit services division, highlights that there was a significant increase from 12 listings for the same period in 2020, which “was heavily impacted by market falls during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The strong performance was clearly shown from the $2.9 billion raised, in comparison to the $132 million in the first half of 2020. The big jump in raisings was driven by 13 additional ‘larger’ listings that were above $100 million in size. In the June quarter alone, 39 of the 61 listings occurred, with nine large caps.
Ohm attributes the increase in activity to “favourable macro-economic and capital market conditions together with strong investor sentiment and reflected the strength of the market as a whole with the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries index growing by 11% over the six-month period.” Also, it is worth noting that the small-cap sector contributed, with 48 new listings for the period raising a total of $462 million, with the Materials sector doing well. It had 26 new small-cap listings compared to only three in the comparative period in 2020. What was interesting is that there were five out of thirteen large-cap IPOs in 2021, when usually, Materials listings are small caps.
Outside of the Materials sector, which had 51% of all new floats, other industries also performed well, says Ohm. Retailing and Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences sectors had four new listings each during the period, while Software & Services, which historically has been a strong IPO sector in terms of volume only, had three new entrants during this period raising a combined $31 million.”
According to the report the average first-day gain across all new listings was 21% and the average period-end gain was 6%. The strongest performers in terms of share price included Firebird Metals Limited (ASX: FRB, 208% gain) and Pentanet Limited (ASX: 5GG, 170% gain). This period has also seen five foreign listings (2020: two), including Keypath Education International Inc (ASX: KED) and Chimeric Therapeutics Limited (ASX: CHM). which both have US-based operations.”
In summary, Ohm says the new listings pipeline is “looking very healthy with 42 upcoming floats preparing to list and seeking to raise a further $1.25 billion.”
