Global equity issuance surged by 27% in the first nine months of 2014, while debt activity ticked up by 3%, according to new data from Thomson Reuters.
In a new report, the firm says that global equity capital markets issuance activity totalled US$690.5 billion during the first nine months of 2014, up 27% compared to the same period last year. And, it says, this is the strongest showing for global equity markets since 2007, when the financial crisis first developed. The report also notes that third quarter issuance decreased 25% compared to the second quarter of the year.
Initial public offering (IPO) activity totalled US$179.8 billion through the first nine months of the year, up 94% from last year. Again, this was the strongest for global IPOs since 2007. Thomson Reuters says that issuers in China, the U.S. and the UK accounted for 60% of all IPO activity during the first nine months, up from 47% a year ago.
At the same time, global follow-on offerings reached US$424.1 billion during the first nine months, which is up 10% from a year ago, and is the strongest first nine months for secondary offerings since 2009. European companies accounted for 34% of global secondary issuance, up from 29% in 2013; while issuance from companies in the U.S. and China fell 10% and 7%, respectively.
By sector, financial services led the way, representing 22% of the overall volume of new issuance; followed by energy and power at 14%, technology (13%) and industrials and real estate (11%).
Goldman Sachs led the global equity league tables, raising US$61.9 billion in proceeds from 305 issues, despite the fact that it lost 2.1 points of market share compared to 2013. JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley ranked second and third in the underwriting tables. Citing estimates from Freeman Consulting, the report also says that fees from equity capital markets transactions totalled US$16.4 billion for the first nine months of 2014, which is a 38% increase from this time last year.
In a separate report, the firm notes that global debt market activity rose just 3% over the same period. For the first nine months of 2014, debt issuance totalled US$4.5 trillion. Although, in the third quarter, global debt activity decreased 29% compared to the second quarter of 2014.
The volume of global high yield corporate debt came in at US$93.9 billion for the third quarter, the report says, which was a 42% decline compared to the second quarter. Financial services was also the biggest source of deal activity on the debt side, accounting for 50% of all new issuance so far this year.
For the debt underwriters, Thomson Reuters/Freeman Consulting estimate that fees also rose about 3% to US$17.9 billion during the first nine months of the year. JP Morgan maintained its spot atop the global debt underwriting league tables during the first nine months, the report says, followed by Deutsche Bank, Citi rose to third place from fourth, and Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch rounded out the top five.