roceeds from UK IPOs fell 94% in the first half of 2022 as companies eschewed stock market listings amid geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures.
Only six companies were listed on UK stock exchanges in the second quarter of 2022, and only one company entered the GOAL market in a £6 million increase.
The lean harvest for the UK IPO market contrasts sharply with a record year in 2021, in which the London Stock Exchange became the largest global center for IPOs outside the US and China, with companies raising a total of £3.8 billion in the second quarter alone.
The UK IPO market underperformed the global market as a whole, where revenues fell 58% over the same period. China accounted for more than half of global IPO proceeds in the first half of 2022, up 46% from 2021. Technology and life science IPOs, which were among the most common in 2021, fell by 61% worldwide.
EY UKI IPO leader Scott McCubbin said: “There is a perfect storm of geopolitical pressure creating a challenging macroeconomic landscape, exacerbated by inflationary pressures aimed at high energy and commodity prices, leading to associated rate hikes.
“We expect a weak IPO market for the remainder of 2022 due to these challenging conditions.”