KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission (SC) approved 18 equity applications in 2023, of which seven were for initial public offering (IPO) on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia with a total market capitalisation of RM9.04 billion.
The estimated amount of funds raised from these IPOs was RM2.81 billion, according to the SC's Annual Report 2023.
The remaining applications approved were 11 transfers of listing from the ACE Market to the Main Market.
"There were a total of 32 new listings in 2023, of which seven were on the Main Market, 24 were on the ACE Market and the remaining one was on the LEAP Market with a total market capitalisation of RM13.63 billion.
"The total amount of funds raised from these new listings was approximately RM3.58 billion," it added.
The report also highlighted that the Malaysian corporate bonds and sukuk market reported total issuances of RM118.33 billion in 2023, representing a 22.82 per cent decrease from RM153.32 billion issued in 2022.
Ringgit-denominated corporate bonds and sukuk issues continued to form most of the proposals approved by or lodged with the SC with a total nominal value of RM171.48 billion, of which 57.30 per cent or RM98.26 billion were sukuk.
"The total number of ringgit-denominated corporate bonds and sukuk approved by or lodged with the SC with tenures of one to seven years and eight to 15 years increased by 17.65 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.
"There was a 12.50 per cent decrease in the total number of ringgit-denominated corporate bonds and sukuk with tenures of more than 15 years," it noted.
The report also said in 2023, a total of 40 ratings were assigned by credit rating agencies to ringgit-denominated corporate bonds and sukuk issues lodged with the SC, as compared to 45 ratings assigned in 2022.
The number of unrated issues has increased by 75 per cent as compared to 2022.
Additionally, there were three foreign currency-denominated corporate bonds and sukuk lodged with the SC in 2023.