Australia Equity Capital Markets Recover

Australia Equity Capital Markets Recover; Up 14.7% from 1Q 2012

Australia's equity capital markets activity reached US$5.9 billion so far this year, a 14.7% increase from the first quarter of 2012, driven by convertible offerings from National Australian Bank (US$1.6 billion) and Westpac Banking Corp (US$1.4 billion). With a backlog of listings in the pipeline, market activity could potentially pick up the rest of the year.

Convertible securities accounted for majority of Australia's equity capital markets raising US$3.0 billion, up 72.5% from the first quarter of 2012, and captured 50.9% of the market activity. This is the highest quarterly level for convertibles since fourth quarter of 2009 (US$3.6 billion).

Follow-on offerings, with 78 new issues, reached US$2.9 billion to date, a 13.6% drop in total proceeds compared to the first quarter of 2012, and accounted for 48.3% of the market activity. Block Trades accounted for 67% of Australian follow-on offerings with US$1.9 billion.

Total proceeds from initial public offerings (IPO) issued by Australian companies reached US$46.5 million, a 54.3% decline from the first quarter of 2012.

The Financials sector generated proceeds of US$3.0 billion thus far, a 26.1% growth from the first quarter of 2012, and represented 51.3% of the market activity. Industrials sector grew 50.4% to US$1.3 billion compared to the first quarter of 2012 and accounted for 21.6% of the market share.

UBS currently leads the ranking for Australia ECM underwriting capturing 36.5% of the market share with US$2.2 billion in related proceeds, a 116.8% increase from the first quarter of 2012. Deutsche Bank climbs up to second place from its 7th position during the first quarter of 2012 with 8.6% market share and US$505.9 in related proceeds.

UBS Leads Investment Banking Fee Pool for Australia Equity Capital Markets
According to estimates from Thomson Reuters/ Freeman Consulting Co., Australian equity capital raisings have generated investment banking fees of US$109.9 million so far during 2013, a 31.3% growth from the comparative period last year.

UBS leads the Australia ECM Fee ranking for year-to-date 2013, capturing 38.3% share of the fee pool with an estimated US$42.1 million in fees.

Thomson Reuters

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