KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia's initial public offering (IPO) capital market tops the Southeast Asian bourses in terms of total IPO funds raised in the first half of 2024 (1H 2024) with US$450 million, said Deloitte. (US$1 = RM4.49) It said IPO funds raised in Malaysia accounted for 33 per cent of the region's US$1.4 billion in proceeds raised for the period under review. In its 2024 Southeast Asia Mid-Year IPO Snapshot report, Deloitte said Thailand was the next most successful country with US$427 million raised, followed by Indonesia (US$248 million), the Philippines (US$194 million), Vietnam (US$37 million), and Singapore (US$20 million). It said Southeast Asia's capital market saw a decrease in new IPOs, with just 67 IPOs in 1H 2024 compared with 85 in 1H 2023. Deloitte said Indonesia had the most new IPOs with 25, followed by Malaysia (21 IPOs), Thailand (17 IPOs), and the Philippines (two IPOs), while Vietnam and Singapore both saw one IPO. Meanwhile, in a statement today, Deloitte Malaysia Transaction A dvisory Services partner Wong Kar Choon said since 2018, the number of new listings on Bursa Malaysia Securities' ACE Market has surpassed that of the Main Market. 'We have also seen that a majority of these new listings in the ACE market have recorded gains in their post-listing share price. 'Encouragingly, half of these companies also saw double-digit gains in their share prices one-week post-IPO, indicating reasonable IPO valuations that are further supported by ample market liquidity,' he said. Wong noted that Malaysia would continue to have well-established brand names in the IPO landscape. He said that in 1H 2024, the local stock market saw fertility care specialist Alpha IVF Group Bhd raising about US$94 million. 'Notably, Malaysia also has four out of the top 10 IPOs in Southeast Asia, as of 1H 2024. This clearly shows Malaysia's positive economic landscape, and there are a lot of good companies poised to leverage their strong market presence to tap into the opportunities within the IPO capital m arket,' he added. He also pointed out that the IPO landscape for Malaysia for the rest of 2024 appears hopeful, with Bursa Malaysia's target listings of 42 remaining optimistic. Meanwhile, Deloitte said historically, Southeast Asia's second half of each year has always been the better performing half between 2020 and 2022. 'However, there has been a downward trend between 1H 2023 to 1H 2024, signalling subdued IPO market sentiments where investors and IPO candidates continue to navigate macroeconomic factors such as the global geopolitical climate, a high interest rate environment, and reduced liquidity,' it added. Source: BERNAMA News Agency