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Singapore investment banking fees drop 15.6% to US$221.3m in Q1: Refinitiv
FEES generated from investment banking activities in Singapore fell 15.6 per cent to US$221.3 million in the year so far, compared with Q1 2021.
This comes amid a decline in fees garnered from the debt capital markets (DCM), syndicated lending and advising on completed M&A (mergers and acquisitions) transactions. Meanwhile, fees generated from equity capital markets (ECM) underwriting rose.
According to preliminary data from Refinitiv released on Friday (Mar 25), BofA Securities is currently in the lead when it comes to Singapore investment banking fees with a total of US$33.3 million or a 15.1 per cent wallet share of the total fee pool.
When it comes to M&A activity, overall activity in Singapore rose 13 per cent to US$28.6 million, led by ALD’s pending US$5.5 billion acquisition of LeasePlan.
Singapore-targeted M&A activity rose 43.4 per cent to reach US$9.3 billion. There has been 1 de-SPAC transaction so far worth US$1.5 billion between Ethereal Tech and Arisz Acquisition.
A majority of deal-making activity involving Singapore has targeted the financial sector, which accounted for 42.4 per cent of the market share and totalled US$12.1 billion. This was followed by the real estate and high technology sectors, which took up 16.4 per cent and 14.4 per cent market share respectively.
Citi is in the lead when it comes to any Singapore-involved announced M&A league table rankings. The lender has 37.8 per cent of the market share and US$10.8 billion in related deal value, based on preliminary data.
Meanwhile, DCM underwriting fees slid 14.3 per cent to US$31.1 million in the year so far. Primary bond offerings from Singapore-domiciled issuers dropped 27.5 per cent to US$7.7 billion. Singapore companies from the financial sectors continued to lead the pack, capturing 71.6 per cent of the market share.
Green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds from Singapore issuers stands at US$1.9 billion so far, up 36.4 per cent from Q1 2021. These ESG-related (environmental, social and governance) bonds also account for 24.7 per cent of total Singapore-issued bond proceeds this year so far.
HSBC led Singapore bonds underwriting for the period, with US$1 billion in related proceeds and 13.3 per cent of market share, based on preliminary data.
ECM underwriting fees climbed 59.5 per cent to reach US$63.1 million. Singapore companies raised US$537.5 million so far this year through equity and equity-linked issuances. Proceeds, however, were down 60.8 per cent.
There was also a stark 97.7 per cent drop in initial public offering proceeds from 3 listings worth US$16.4 million, compared with last year.
UOB is in the lead when it comes to Singapore’s underwriting rankings with a 35.4 per cent market share and US$190.5 million in related proceeds.
Source: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/singapore-investment-banking-fees-drop-156-to-us2213m-in-q1-refinitiv