Taiwan’s initial public offering (IPO) activity slowed in the first eight months of the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of IPOs and the amount of funds raised falling at double-digit percentages from a year earlier, data released by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed.
Only 14 firms launched debut shares on the local stock market from January to last month, down 33 percent from 21 launches a year earlier, the data showed.
Eight firms were listed on the Taipei Exchange (TPEX) and six firms on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).
Twelve of them had gained approval to conduct IPOs last year, but chose to go public this year to avoid uncertainty in the financial markets amid US-China trade tensions, Brexit and protests in Hong Kong, the commission said.
As of the end of last month, total funds raised through IPOs reached NT$5.68 billion (US$192.42 million), down 53 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
Twenty-four companies submitted their IPO applications during the first eight months of the year, including 17 firms on the TPEX and seven on the TWSE, the commission said, adding that seven of the companies have been given the green light, but only two of those have gone public.
“Companies seem to have become more conservative about IPOs amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) said yesterday.
Some companies decided to defer their listing plans after seeing businesses hit by the pandemic.
The commission has set a target of 52 IPOs for the whole of this year, Tsai said.
The number of IPOs worldwide fell 16 percent annually in the first half of the year, Tsai said, citing World Federation of Exchanges statistics.
By comparison, in the first eight months, local companies raised 52 percent more through secondary public offerings than they did a year earlier, as companies took advantage of lower interest rates to issue corporate bonds, commission data showed.
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