High-value floats in Q2 boost hopes for 2017

The second quarter of 2017 saw a rebound in higher value UK stock market flotations, a survey has found.

The number of initial public offerings edged up by only one to 18 on the first three months of this year.

But the quarter to June saw the value of company floats triple to £4.2 billion compared with £1.2bn in Q1, says the latest issue of business advisory giant EY’S IPO Eye.

Mike Timmins, EY’S IPO leader in Scotland, said: “There are signs that investors seem once again ready to look at the UK market large cap IPOS so we can expect a number of higher value (public listings) in late 2017.”

Today’s report said that, despite continued currency volatility, there were four cross-border flotations in Q2 with listings by companies based in Turkey, UAE, China and Ireland.

The main market saw 11 floats that raised £3.8bn in Q2. Seven admissions on the AIM raised £496 million.