We wrote about the amount of capital raised via the ASX in January — $17 billion — as if it was a gargantuan figure.
But now the February figures have been released, it seems like an ant in comparison.
For the month of February -—which, as a reminder, only has 28 days, three less than January — nearly $98.6 billion in capital was raised by listed entities.
Primary markets deserted
To be more precise, $98.591 billion in total capital was raised in February, a 1,076% increase on 12 months ago.
Interestingly, however, the vast, vast majority of that — $96.8 billion — did not come via primary markets, but fell under the secondary category of “other, including scrip-for-scrip”.
Shares are first issued on the primary market, before being traded via investors on secondary markets.
Only $56 million in primary capital was raised in February, down 36% on the prior February, while $1.7 billion was raised directly via secondary markets.
FY22 on heat
It’s been a phenomenal 2022 financial year when it comes to capital raisings.
$206.2 billion has been raised thus far, up 236% on this time in FY21.
$45.6 billion has come via primary markets and $160.7 billion via secondary markets.
172 new entities have joined the ASX, while 91 have been de-listed.
New companies, new capital
Only seven companies joined the ASX in February, but the flurry of new listings is still outpacing FY21.
Initial public offerings flourished in 2021, with EY Global IPO leader Paul Go saying it was as strong as the market had been in two decades.
And though he cautioned the IPO market could slow down this year, the number of listed entities increased to 2,309, compared with 2,188 the year before.
Proactive Investors has looked ahead to some of the most interesting companies being rumoured to list on global markets this year, which amazingly includes the discussion website Reddit.
To prepare you for investing in an IPO, we’ve also published this handy guide on what to look out for when perusing a prospectus.
- Daniel Paproth