Equity issuance surges in Q3: Refinitiv

Canadian equity issuance is rebounding this year, and debt market activity has increased a bit too — trends that are shaking up the underwriters’ league tables, according to new data from Refinitiv.

Through the first nine months of the year, equity issuance totalled $13.8 billion, surpassing the full-year total for 2022, the firm reported.

This represents a 35% increase year over year, led by a strong third quarter, which generated $7.5 billion in new issue activity, up almost 80% from the previous quarter.

The vast majority of the new issue activity were in secondary offerings, which were up 60% year over year in the first nine months of 2023.

Meanwhile, both the initial public offering and retail structured products markets have struggled, with issuance down 87% and 85%, respectively, so far this year. The preferred securities market is down 14% year over year, the data showed.

Refinitiv reported that the energy and power sector led the way in new equity raises, accounting for just over half ($7.0 billion) of the year’s issuance. The materials sector ranked second at 18%, followed by industrials at 9%.

BMO Capital Markets led the equity league tables for 2023, with a 17% market share, up 5.2 percentage points from last year.

CIBC World Markets ranked second with an 11.3% share, up four points. And the familiar leader, RBC Capital Markets, dropped to third in the rankings. Scotia Capital and National Bank Financial rounded out the top five in Refinitiv’s rankings.

On the debt side, RBC was the overall league table leader with a 20.3% market share, up 2.6 points. TD Securities ranked second and Scotia was third. CIBC stayed in fourth spot, and NBF dropped to fifth place from first in the rankings a year ago.

According to Refinitiv, total debt issuance was up 11% year over year to $150.0 billion for the first nine months of 2023. Activity slowed in the third quarter, it noted, with issuance dropping 34% from the previous quarter.

“A total of 342 deals were completed in the first nine months, reversing the decline in first-nine-months deal volumes that has persisted since 2020,” Refinitiv said.

While government debt issuance led the market, corporate debt activity totalled $49.7 billion, which was up 44% year over year.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.