Britain’s stock market falls below Oman and Malaysia in global rankings

December 11, 2024
Pic: Dazzlingdawn

As the City's problems worsen, Britain's stock market has fallen below Oman and Malaysia in the global rankings for new listings.

According to data published by Bloomberg, companies that are listed in London raised $1 billion (£790 million) this year, a 9 percent decrease.

In the global league table for IPO fundraising this year, it demoted Britain to 20th place, four spots lower than the US, which came in first place with $40 billion more dollars.

London fell behind Oman, where more money was raised in IPOs, even though its overall stock market is 1pc the size of Britain’s.

Malaysia and Luxembourg have risen above London, which also trails behind Australia, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

The City did not have any listings among the top 100 globally. Greece, Sweden and South Africa hosted bigger floats this year.

George Chan, of auditor EY, said: “Governments are doing everything they could to attract more companies to come, so the competition is now more intense.

“If we do not change this sort of landscape, it’s going to take a lot of time for the UK to be back on the top of the pyramid.”

London previously was a regular among the top five locations in the world to raise investment for IPOs. A dozen companies listed in London this year, with the largest raising more than £150m.

However, the biggest private players are sceptical about the stock market. Nikolay Storonsky, who runs online bank Revolut, Britain’s most valuable fintech start-up, previously said it was “not rational” to float in London, saying the UK “can’t compete” and was “much worse” than America because of stamp duty taxes on buying shares.

Stamp duty charges, which are paid when shares are bought and sold, have been blamed for making the London stock market less competitive.

The Lord Mayor of London Alastair King, who is head of the City of London Corporation, hit out at stamp duty taxes on shares earlier this month.

Meanwhile, 45 companies have left the UK’s stock exchange this year due to mergers and acquisitions, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, which is the highest tally since 2010.

Private equity companies have been attracted to cheap valuations on the London market, with KKR completing two buyouts of London-listed companies this year, snapping up Smart Metering Systems for £1.3bn and IQGeo, a maker of network management software used by utilities for £333m.

EQT AB closed two deals as well. And Brookfield Asset Management, CVC Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group are privately taking over UK companies.

Liad Meidar, of Gatemore Capital Management, said: “There’s a malaise in the UK — the state of capital markets is negative.

“Global investors can access the US market and capital is pooling there.”