Reuters picks up on gloomy times for public offerings in the UK
IPO's so far in 2017 are down 28% on last year. It's also at the lowest YTD amount since 2012.
That's in stark contrast to the rest of the globe where IPOs are up more than 100% YTD vs 2016. That said, 2016 as a whole saw more than a 25% drop y/y.
So far in 2017 there have been 302 listings world wide, the most since 2000 but only 8 by British companies. Since the Brexit vote, the value of IPOs have fallen 54% and the number of deals fell by 30%.
It's clear that many firms are holding back on listing in the UK, and not only UK firms. It's another clear reminder that the Brexit mess is holding back a lot of business. If the UK secures a good Brexit deal then the bounce back could be extraordinary. If it fails, it could be bad news.
But before getting too downcast, there are still plenty of people willing to spend a quid in the UK as Qatar announced yesterday and today.
Business is slow at the LSE
