Brexit playing no impact on floatations as IPO levels set to beat past two years

Stock market flotations are showing 'no sign of slowing' with the number of listings in 2018 set to beat the past two years despite Brexit fears, according to share services firm Equiniti.
People at the London Stock Exchange Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA WirePeople at the London Stock Exchange Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire
People at the London Stock Exchange Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire

Equiniti Group, which provides share registrations services, said IPOs on London stock exchanges so far in 2018 had already equalled the total for 2017 and was on course to be a record year thanks to a “healthy IPO pipeline”.

Stock market flotations this year include the £2.3 billion flotation of cyber security firm Avast and the £100 million listing of high street retailer theWorks.co.uk.

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Equiniti, which has acted as registrar for 70 per cent of IPOs so far in 2018, said the LSE was attracting around 70% of new capital, with the remaining 30% split between London’s junior Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and other exchanges.

Paul Matthews, chief executive for boardroom business at Equiniti, said: “These figures show that London continues to attract significant investor capital and that shows no sign of slowing as we head toward Brexit next year.

“We have already worked on more IPOs this year than last and, with several more expected before the end of the year, we could see the 2017 total for floats well beaten.”

Last year was the biggest for flotations since 2014, with Equiniti welcoming 17 London listings worth more than £7 billion, including the £1.7 billion IPO in the UK of US energy group ContourGlobal and ready meal group Bakkavor’s £1 billion stock market debut.

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