PSE-based FY24 fundraising down 37%

Ramon Monzon, the President of the PSE [PSE 175.00 ?1.2%; 415% avgVol] [link], said PSE is on pace to see only P89 billion in PSE-based fundraising, down 37% from the P141 billion achieved in FY23. This number includes three IPOs, one stock rights offering, six follow-on offerings, and seven private placements. The PSE had originally set a target of six IPOs for FY24, but it looks like it will only finish the year with four (OGP, CREC, XG, and the Top Line [TOP] IPO that will happen later this month).   

MB BOTTOM-LINE:  One of those things is not like the other. One of those things is just not the same. I get why the PSE counts money raised through private placements as part of the total capital raised on the PSE, but this is the only type of raise in the set that isn’t sold directly to the public. The PSE probably counts it because it earns fees on these types of transactions, but I don’t consider private sales to be all that indicative of market health. Some of those private placements (half?) were just REIT sponsors puffing up the public float, and most of those sales were probably just to the usual domestic institutional suspects. What do I want to see? I want to see the apps launched with full force. I want to see more ETFs. I want to see lower fees for traders. I’m not sure how much of that change is within the PSE’s mandate. They have to play in the SEC’s playground, with the policy and regulatory tools given to it by the SEC.

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