IPOs fuel hope for SGX after quiet Q4

AN early wave of new listings is fuelling hope for Singapore Exchange (SGX) even as the market operator is expected to post weaker fourth-quarter and full-year results at the end of the month.

"The last three months have been a bit more quiet, so I don't think it will be a very interesting quarter," OCBC head of research Carmen Lee said. "The first half we saw a lot of mergers and acquisitions, second half I hope that more people will come to the market."

SGX, which will announce its full-year results on July 31, entered the April-June fourth quarter already hobbled. Net profit for the nine-months to March 31 was down 2.1 per cent at S$243 million following a sharp drop in trading volumes during the period.