Bursa: Healthy IPO pipeline in the second half of the year

KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia Bhd expects strong listing activity in the second half of the year with 13 initial public offerings (IPOs), according to its CEO, Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift (pix).

“We have a healthy pipeline of 13 companies to be listed in the second half of the year with an estimated market capitalisation of RM15 billion,” he told reporters at a briefing on Bursa Malaysia’s financial results today.

“While the market is softer, it makes us confident that we are seeing this stream of businesses coming in, that Malaysia has a deep base for investors,” he said.

Of the 13 companies that have received approval for listing, three will be listed on the Main Market and seven on the ACE Market, while the remaining three will be listed on the LEAP Market.

In the first half of the year, a total of 14 companies with a market capitalisation of RM5.5 billion were listed on the bourse.

Meanwhile, Bursa Malaysia’s profit after tax and minority interest (patami) fell 23.6% to RM93.2 million in the first half of the year ended June 30, 2019 (1H19) from RM122 million in 1H18.

Despite a decline in its performance, Muhamad Umar said he is cautiously optimistic for the second half of the year. With the net foreign funds inflows in June, he believes that the market has bottomed out.

“We think Malaysia has a wonderful story, growth is good, we have foreign funds flowing back in again and new projects are coming in, it’s time for investors to consider a comeback,” he said.

Although Muhamad Umar is upbeat on the prospect of foreign fund inflows for the second half of the year, he said it remains to be seen whether they will return to last year’s level due to the uncertainties in the market.

He said trade tensions between the US and China as well as a potential no-deal Brexit would be hurdles for foreign funds to return to their previous level on the local bourse.

“On the other hand, the fundamentals of the local market remain strong – we have a strong and sound banking system as well as positive developments such as the ECRL (East Coast Rail Link) and the relaunching of Bandar Malaysia,” he added.

For 1H19, Bursa Malaysia’s revenue fell 14% to RM250.49 million from RM291.27 million in first half of the previous year. It declared an interim dividend of 10.4 sen to be paid on Aug 30, 2019.

source https://www.thesundaily.my/business/bursa-healthy-ipo-pipeline-in-the-second-half-of-the-year-EB1201754