Publicly listed companies raised total capital of NT$311.34 billion (US$10.38 billion) in the first half of this year, an increase of 4.6 percent from the same period last year, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) reported yesterday.
The private sector obtained NT$245.72 billion from initial public offerings and NT$65.62 billion from private placements for the first half of the year, according to commission statistics.
The commission said that the NT$245.72 billion fund obtained through public offerings was down 10.42 percent and 6.5 percent from the same period last year and in 2010 respectively, hitting a three-year low.
Securities and Futures Bureau Secretary-General Wu Quei-mao (吳桂茂) said the reduced figure in the first half of the year via public offerings had largely to do with the ongoing European debt crisis and the slowdown of the global economy.
Funding obtained through public offerings on the domestic market totaled NT$227.78 billion, accounting for 92.7 percent of the fund, an indication that companies largely relied on the domestic market to raise capital, the commission said.
Based on documents received by the commission, companies said that 58.52 percent of the raised capital will be used in repaying debts and only 27.71 percent of the fund will be used on expanding facilities, while 11.18 percent of the fund will be used to cover operational costs.
Wu said big corporations’ ability to raise capital via private placements largely contributed to the increased amount of total capital raised this year.
The NT$65.62 billion obtained via private placements in the first half of this year was up 183.8 percent and 11.9 percent from the same period of last year and 2010 respectively, commission statistics show.
Wu said the state-run Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) obtained NT$20 billion via a private placement in the first half of this year and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) raised NT$15.6 billion in the same period, also via a private placement.
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