Canadian investment bankers were busier in the first quarter, as equity issuance surged, and debt issuance rose too, according to the latest data from Thomson Reuters.
In a new report, Thomson Reuters says that Canadian equity issuance was up 69% quarter over quarter in Q1, and up 16% from the same quarter a year ago. Equity and equity-related issuance totaled $11.2 billion, from 131 issues, in the first quarter.
Scotia Capital topped the equity league tables for the quarter, according to the report, as it took the top overall bookrunner spot with $2.4 billion in deal proceeds from 11 deals (a 21.5% market share by proceeds). BMO Capital Markets and RBC Capital Markets rounded out the top three, with 14.3% and 13.5% shares of total market proceeds, respectively.
RBC Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley, and CIBC World Markets took the top three spots in the retail structured products ranking, with market shares of 48.2%, 20.7% and 20.7%, respectively, it says.
Scotia Capital led the preferred share market, working on deals worth $984 million in the quarter. RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities ranked second and third in that space, with $734 million and $692 million in proceeds, respectively. Also, preferred share volume was up 32.3% from the previous quarter, the third straight quarter of increases, it notes.
By sector, energy and power was the leading area of issuance, with a volume of $4.8 billion in the quarter, good for a 43% share. Financials held an 18% share with a $2 billion volume, followed by materials with a 17% share.
On the debt side, overall issuance was up a more modest 8% from the previous quarter. Canadian debt issuance in the first quarter, excluding self-funded transactions, reached $39.9 billion from 74 deals, Thomson Reuters reports. Canadian domestic corporate issuance totaled $12.0 billion from 31 issues, representing a 22.1% increase in deal value from the fourth quarter of 2011, the firm says, although this was a decline of 48.4% from the same quarter last year.
RBC Capital Markets topped the debt league tables, followed by TD. National Bank Financial jumped up to third spot from fifth, knocking down CIBC World Markets to fifth and leaping over fourth-place BMO Capital Markets.
Total government debt issuance continued to account for over half of the market, reaching $26.6 billion from 41 issues for the quarter, which is essentially flat compared to the same period last year. Financials and energy and power were the next two most active sectors, with 34% and 6% of the market, respectively, the report says.