Canadian debt issuance rose in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017, but equity underwriting was down in the quarter, according to new data from Thomson Reuters Corp.
Overall, debt issuance totalled $42.4 billion in Q1, which is up by 10.7% from the same quarter in 2016 and by 6.6% on a quarter-over-quarter basis, the New York-based financial data firm reports. Government debt represented almost half of the new issue activity, followed by financials with a 32% market share, and the energy and power sector, at just 7%.
Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) capital markets group dominated the underwriting league tables, leading in overall debt underwriting, Canadian corporate debt, and Canadian government debt, Thomson Reuters reports.
Morgan Stanley ranked first in cross-border transactions and while TD Securities Inc., Scotia Capital Inc. and RBC’s and Bank of Montreal’s capital markets groups tied for the lead in underwriting corporate Maple debt.
On the equities side, total issuance for Q1 came in at $12.9 billion, down by 13.1% from Q1 2016, although total proceeds were up by 13.5% from the fourth quarter of 2016. Still, Thomson Reuters notes that the number of equity underwritings is up on both a year-over-year and quarter -over-quarter basis.
The vast majority of the activity came in secondary offerings, at $12-billion worth. By sector, the energy and power industry generated 61% of total equity proceeds, with $7.8-billion worth. The materials sector ranked a distant second with a 14% share and real estate ranked third at 11%.
Here, again, RBC’s capital markets group led the first quarter league tables, as it ranked first in total equity issuance, common stock issuance and secondary offerings. Scotia Capital came first in retail structured products and BMO’s capital markets group led the issuance of preferred securities. RBC’s capital markets division and CIBC World Markets Inc. shared the lead in Canadian initial public offerings.