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Investment banking fees in Singapore grow 3.3% to US$451.3m in H1: Refinitiv
INVESTMENT banking activities in Singapore generated US$451.3 million in fees for the first half of the year, representing a 3.3 per cent increase compared to the same period year-ago, according to preliminary data from Refinitiv released on Friday (Jun 24).
Of these, advisory fees for completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) contributed the biggest share, generating US$171.7 million in H1 2022, a spike of 10.9 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Syndicated lending fees made for the second-largest contributor, amounting to US$116.9 million and a fall of 6.3 per cent from H1 2021. Equity capital markets (ECM) underwriting fees were up 9.7 per cent to US$77.8 million, while debt capital markets (DCM) underwriting fees dipped 1.7 per cent from a year ago to US$85.0 million for the first half of 2022.
DBS took the lead for the nation’s investment banking fee rankings for the first half this year with US$39.8 million, or 8.8 per cent wallet share of the total fee pool.
Separately, overall M&A activity announced in Singapore fell 35.9 per cent in H1 2022 to US$56.6 billion, while Singapore-targeted M&A activity amounted to US$23.7 billion — a 46.8 per cent decline compared to first half of 2021. Three de-SPAC transactions were made so far this year.
Majority of the deal making activity involving Singapore targeted the financials sector, making up 34.8 per cent of market share, or US$19.7 billion. This is also a more than three-fold increase in value compared to the same period last year.
Real estate came in second, capturing 17.8 per cent of the market share while high technology, which saw the most number of transactions, rounded out the top 3 with 14.7 per cent market share.
Citi is currently in the lead for Singapore-involvement announced M&A league table rankings with 20.1 per cent market share and US$11.4 billion in related deal value.
On equity and equity-linked issuance, Singaporean companies were also found to have raised less as compared to H1 last year, with proceeds falling 68.1 per cent to US$922.0 million. Initial public offerings (IPOs) by local firms also welcomed less proceeds than last year as it was down 91.8 per cent to US$59.6 million in H1.
Additionally, 3 SPAC IPOs were launched in Singapore so far this year, raising an aggregate total of US$280.3 million.
UOB currently leads Singapore’s ECM underwriting rankings, with a 25.6 per cent market share and US$236.0 million in related proceeds, based on preliminary data.
For DCM, the primary bond offerings from Singapore-domiciled issuers eased 15.4 per cent to US$17.4 billion in H1, after witnessing a strong period during the first half of 2021.
Singaporean companies in the financial sector captured the largest market share at 65.4 per cent with US$11.4 billion raised in H1, up 0.5 per cent from a year ago.
ESG-related (green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked) bonds from Singaporean issuers however, sank 38.7 per cent from the first half of last year with US$2.5 billion raised. This accounted for 14.2 per cent of the total Singapore-issued bond proceeds in the first half of 2022.
DBS leads the Singapore-issued bonds underwriting as it currently holds 13.6 per cent of the market share, or US$2.4 billion in related proceeds.
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/investment-banking-fees-in-singapore-grow-33-to-us4513m-in-h1-refinitiv