Canadian equity issuance surged in the first quarter, while debt issuance was flat, according to the latest data from Thomson Reuters.
The firm reports that Canadian equity & equity-related issuance totalled $8.3 billion in the first quarter, from 115 deals. The equity raised represents a 36.4% increase in total proceeds from the same period in 2013. However, this is down by 33.2% from the fourth quarter of 2013.
The energy & power sector accounted for almost half of the overall equity raised ($4.1 billion) in the first quarter. Materials accounted for a 21% share, and financials contributed an 8% share of the market.
Thomson Reuters reports that RBC Capital Markets was the top equity underwriter in the first quarter, as it ranked first in equity & equity-related, common stock, secondary offerings, and preferred securities league tables. CIBC World Markets ranked first in retail structured products, and Canaccord Genuity placed first in initial public offerings (IPOs) on the strength of its underwriting of the quarter’s lone deal eligible for the standard IPO rankings.
Secondary offerings totalled $7.6 billion in the first quarter, structured products reached $1.3 billion, and preferreds amounted to $2.9 billion.
The debt underwriting business remains much bigger than equities, generating $38.9 billion of new issuance in the first quarter. This is essentially flat, up just 1.3% from the same period in 2013. However, this is also a 22.2% decrease from the fourth quarter.
Government and agency debt represents almost half (48%) of the overall issuance in the first quarter. On the corporate side, financials led the way with a 32% share of overall issuance, followed by energy & power with a 5% market share.
RBC also led underwriters on the debt side in the first quarter. It placed first in the league tables for debt overall, domestic corporate debt, and corporate Maple debt. TD Securities ranked first in Canadian government debt rankings, and JPMorgan came first in the Canadian cross border rankings.