Although there was a flurry of flotations in the fourth quarter, last year saw the lowest new listings in London for three decades.
Fresh data from the London Stock Exchange shows there were just 17 true initial public offers in 2024, the smallest number since 1995.
Data has also been compiled by EY, which puts the total at 18, though it says this is the lowest since it started counting in 2010.
However, the EY research offers more than a glimmer of hope for the Square Mile, as the £3.4 billion raised by these companies was up 256% on the prior year.
And EY also points to a "robust" pipeline for more IPOs and says an "improved domestic policy environment" and the reform of the UK listings rules is expected to drive a rebound in activity in the first half of 2025.
The fourth-quarter listing of Canal+, which was counted as an introduction in the LSE figures rather than a true IPOs, was said by EY to have been the largest debut on the London Stock Exchange since 2022.
It was among eight IPOs in the final three months of the year that EY counted, three on the main market and five on AIM, raising £2.8 billion.
The LSE saw 88 companies delist or transfer their primary listing, many of which cited declining liquidity and lower valuations compared to other markets, the largest outflow since the global financial crisis.
Scott McCubbin, a UK IPO specialist at EY, said despite the pickup in activity in the fourth quarter, there remain headwinds facing the UK’s listings market, including "geopolitical instability, slow economic growth and a diminished appetite for domestic equities among pension funds".
He hailed "reasons for cautious optimism" as we begin 2025, saying the listings reform is "creating opportunities to restore London’s competitiveness, which could drive a rebound in activity in H1 2025" but said businesses eyeing IPOs "will be closely watching the market to time their public offerings effectively".