Canadian equity issuance surged in the first half of 2015, while new debt activity declined a bit, according to the latest data from Thomson Reuters.

Canadian equity and equity-related issuance came in 42.2% higher in the first half of 2015, compared with the same period a year ago. Equity issuance totals $30.3 billion, from 163 issues, so far this year.

Although issuance is up sharply for the first half of the year, issuance was down 19.9% in the second quarter from the record-setting first quarter.

The vast majority of the equity issuance activity came in secondary offerings, which accounted for $27.2 billion of the deal activity, from 143 deals. This represents a 61% increase in issuance volume compared with the same period last year, Thomson Reuters says. By contrast, preferred issuance dropped by 40% to $3.8 billion, and retail structured products issuance totalled $2.0 billion, down 12% from last year.

The energy and power sector led the way in the first half, raising overall equity proceeds of $8.3 billion, which represents a 28% market share. Financials ranked second with a 21% market share, and the materials sector ranked third with a 19% share.

The top underwriter of the first six months of the year was RBC Capital Markets, which ranked first in Canadian equity & equity-related issuance, Canadian common stock & trusts, Canadian secondary offerings, and Canadian preferred securities. CIBC ranked first in retail structured products, while BMO came first in initial public offerings (IPOs).

On the debt side, overall Canadian issuance slid by 7.1% to $85.0 billion in the first half, Thomson Reuters reports, compared with the first half of 2014. Again, second quarter issuance declined 12.8% from the first quarter.

Government and agency debt continue to make up almost half of the market (representing a 49% share of overall issuance in the first half). Financials is far and away the top corporate sector, accounting for 36% of issuance, with the energy & power sector a distant third, with a 6% market share.

RBC was also the top underwriter on the debt side, Thomson Reuters notes, ranking first in both the Canadian all debt and both Canadian domestic corporate debt league tables.

Meanwhile, TD placed first in corporate Maple debt, and Credit Suisse was first in the Canadian cross border ranking. National Bank placed first in Canadian government debt rankings.