SGX seeing ‘improved momentum’ in IPO pipeline, hopeful that listings will exceed last year’s
Issuers are becoming more active
MORE companies could be listing here in 2025 with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) seeing an improved pipeline of initial public offerings (IPOs), said the bourse operator, which has weathered a tepid market and a slew of delistings in recent years.
SGX chief executive officer Loh Boon Chye said in an earnings briefing on Thursday (Feb 6): “We observe improved momentum. There are deals that are being worked on by advisers, by banks, together with the issuers.”
Pol de Win, head of global sales and origination at SGX, added at the briefing that he hopes the number of listings in 2025 will exceed that of last year.
He said that SGX has seen issuers becoming more active.
“Investor confidence is clearly coming back. Equity levels are generally quite high, the rates outlook is stable, and in some cases, have been declining.”
At the same time, he said, private capital providers have an “increasing need” to recirculate net capital, and to create liquidity for their own limited partners. “And so we really expect that the IPO market, generally in the world, is coming back; and we will benefit from that as well.”
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Singapore has long suffered from a stagnant market with low liquidity, as it struggled to draw companies to list here. Last year was a standout one, with nearly 17 per cent returns, placing the Republic among the top performers in the region. However, it still had more delistings than IPOs – 20 companies delisted in 2024, compared to four new listings.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore has set up an equities market review group to revive the local market. It is studying ideas to encourage listings, increase investor participation, and to improve the listing process, among other moves. This group aims to complete its report by August.
While Loh said that he could not give an update on the group’s review yet, he added: “I think it’s important that for the Singapore stock market to grow and sustain its trajectory, all structural issues, policy issues, have to be holistically addressed – including by SGX, all participants in the ecosystem, policymakers and regulators.”
SGX has lost listings to, notably, the US, with companies like Grab and Sea choosing to list there. However, it is not the only market facing this issue: the London Stock Exchange has also lost out to the US in the competition for listings.
Singapore is facing competition from alternative fundraising methods such as private capital as well, industry watchers have noted. EY data showed that the number of PE deals in South-east Asia soared 103 per cent to 67 in 2024; the total US$15.8 billion in capital deployed last year was more than treble the US$4.9 billion in 2023.
The four listings in 2024 raised a total of S$45.9 million, bourse data indicates. This was sharply lower than the S$580.3 million raised through 11 IPOs in 2022.
But things could be looking up. Companies in SGX’s “sweet spot” are increasingly interested in listing in this region, de Win said.
“The companies, starting with market caps from S$200 million, S$300 million up to S$3 billion to S$5 billion, are increasingly convinced that at least a listing in Asia and this part of the world is the right thing for them to do,” he said.
He added that companies interested in listing are those considered to be new economy, tech-related and high-growth in nature. They also include real estate investment trusts, which he said are “good quality” and a sizeable issuance, and from other sectors such as consumer and healthcare.
SGX has also been driving more inflows into the local market via Singapore Depository Receipts (SDRs), as well as its ETF Links with Shenzhen and Shanghai that offer investors in both Singapore and China mutual access to both markets , and will seek to have new products in such areas, it said.
The ETF Links have pulled in the biggest regional inflows in the past six months, with assets under management jumping from $160 million at the end of 2023 to $639 million at the end of January 2025, according to SGX.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
