Phua Zhenghao, group head of investments, asset management at CGS International, argues that some churn is unavoidable, even in a healthy market. According to Phua’s calculations, there have been about 93 delistings in the past five years, compared to just 39 new listings, as at end-October.
Up till early this year, Singapore’s equity market went through a stark shrinkage. There was a clear trend of delistings outpacing new listings on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), as controlling shareholders of companies lost patience with the valuations accorded to their companies.
IPO sentiment has reflected this sentiment. In the first half of this year, there was only one new listing on SGX — parallel import car dealer Vin’s Holdings. New-issue activity began to pick up only in the second half, after the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced its Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP) and laid out a more specific roadmap to revive the equities market.
