Singapore, Nov 20 - Singapore has had a record year for initial public offerings, thanks to the listing of beer and whisky firm Thai Beverage, and the sale of several new property trusts, China plays and other regional firms.
Companies raised a total of $3.8 billion from IPOs in Singapore in the period up to Nov. 6, up from $2.5 billion in the year-ago period, according to data firm Dealogic.
But the city-state still has a long way to go in attracting the sort of headline deals done in Hong Kong, where new listings reached a record $39 billion this year thanks to Industrial & Commercial Bank of China's $21.9 billion IPO.
And despite its stated aim of luring more of the bigger IPOs, Singapore still ranked behind Shanghai, Tokyo, South Korea and Australia in the Asia-Pacific region, Dealogic said.
Investment bankers said Singapore has made some progress in attracting larger regional offerings, citing Thai Beverage's $983 million offering in May. The deal was the city-state's biggest IPO since 1993, when Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. raised $1.5 billion.
The firm, which makes Chang Beer and Mekhong whisky, listed in Singapore after Buddhist monks and other religious activists protested against plans to list in Bangkok. Thai Beverage shares are trading at around 27 Singapore cents, just below their IPO price of 28 Singapore cents.
"What we have seen in 2006 and in previous years is that Singapore is becoming a preferred stock exchange for regional companies," said Philip Lee, chief executive officer of JP Morgan's Southeast Asia investment banking operation.
The trend is that a lot more real estate investment trusts (REITs) are coming to Singapore, some business trust mandates have been awarded and other companies from the region are looking at Singapore," Lee said.
PROPERTY DEALS
Singapore, which has the third-largest REIT market in Asia-Pacific after Australia and Japan, attracted five new property trusts this year, raising a total of about $1 billion from investors, according to Dealogic.
The biggest of these deals, Allco Commercial REIT , raised about $300 million, followed by CDL Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust, which raised $221 million.
CapitaLand Ltd., Southeast Asia's largest developer, is spinning off some of its Chinese shopping malls in the CapitaRetail China Trust, which is expected to raise up to $140 million in a Singapore IPO this month.
But aside from Thai Bev and the $250 million IPO of Singapore's luxury resorts group Banyan Tree, the city-state has seen few offerings of more than $100 million, and in recent weeks investors have given two of the bigger deals a lukewarm response.
In October, marine fuel supplier Chemoil Energy Ltd. pulled the plug on what would have been the second-biggest IPO this year at $374 million, as investors baulked at the pricing. And earlier this month, coal miner Straits Asia Resources' IPO was priced at the lower end of the indicative range to raise a total of $140 million.
While most of the big Chinese firms head for Hong Kong or Shanghai, Singapore tends to attract much smaller listings.
So far, 24 Chinese companies have raised a total of $882 million in Singapore IPOs -- up from $369 million raised by 20 companies last year -- Dealogic data showed.
Many investors remain wary of China plays because of poor corporate governance. Singapore's reputation was marred by the near-collapse of China Aviation Oil, which lost half a billion dollars in risky oil trades in 2004. But more recently, Bio-Treat Technologies and China Food Industries have delivered nasty surprises for investors.
Kan Shik Lum, head of equity capital markets at DBS Bank , expects a good crop of IPOs in the next few months thanks to lower oil prices, a levelling in interest rates and plenty of liquidity.
"In Singapore, the economy remains strong, job creation is good, and there are two (casino) resorts to be built at larger-than-expected budgets. All these are positive factors to support a good outlook for next year."