- More than 10,000 equity trades per day recorded in Q2
- ISEQ equity indices ahead by between 8% and 21% in first half of 2012
- ISEQ bond indices continue to grow with returns of up to 16.6% in 2012
- Over €110m raised by companies trading on the Irish market during Q2
Equities trading activity has increased by 14% in the first half of 2012, according to the Irish Stock Exchange’s quarterly statistics, published today.
The average number of equity trades rose by 2.3%, exceeding 10,000 trades per day in the second quarter of 2012 [Q1 2012: 9,883]. Year to date figures also showed an increase compared to 2011 with total trades growing by 14% year on year reaching 1.25 million in the first half of 2012 [YTD 2011: 1.1m trades].
Equity turnover at €18.7 billion for the first half of 2012 was similar to levels recorded in 2011 [a rise of 0.3% year on year] while market capitalisation of ISEQ quoted companies for the same period grew by 5.2% to €91.3 billion at the end of June 2012 [end 2011: €86.9bn] (Note 1).
Total equity turnover fell by 19.4% to €8.4 billion in Q2 [Q1 2012: €10.4bn] but this figure was marginally ahead of the same period last year [Q2 2011: €8.3bn]. These statistics reflect a lower number of trading days [61 days in Q2 compared by 64 days in Q1] and a reduction in the market capitalisation of ISEQ quoted companies of 13% during the quarter.
All ISEQ equity indices in positive territory with returns between 8% and 21% so far in 2012
The ISEQ equity indices remained positive for 2012 with increases between 8% and 21.3% evident across all indices year to date. The ISEQ Overall index stood at 3,149 at the end of June 2012, an increase of 8.5% since the beginning of the year. The indices representing the smaller to mid-sized companies on the Irish market performed well, with the Small Cap indexrising by 20.9% and the ESM index, which is a benchmark for the Enterprise Securities Market, returning 11.4%.
ISEQ bond indices continue to grow with year-to-date returns ranging from 3.7% to 16.6%
All ISEQ bond indices rose in the first half of 2012, continuing the strong performance which was evident in 2011 and building on the performance in Q1 2012 with percentage increases ranging from 3.7% to 16.6% year to date. The best performing indices of 2011 maintained their position into the first half of 2012, with the longer term 5 Plus ISEQ Bond index and the 10 Plus ISEQ Bond index growing by 14.3% and 16.6% year to date respectively.
Turnover in Irish Government Bonds and Treasury Bills of €9.6 billion [Q1: €25.3bn] fell following the exceptional turnover in Q1 with daily average turnover of €157m [Q1: €395m] recorded (Note 2).
Over €110m raised by companies trading on the Irish market during Q2
Providence Resources plc, listed on the Enterprise Securities Market (ESM), raised €98 millionin additional capital during April, to finance their on-going exploration of gas and oil prospects.
Fastnet Oil and Gas plc, which focuses on exploration and appraisal activities in Offshore Ireland and Africa, raised gross proceeds of €12.4 million on admission to ESM in June and commenced trading with a market capitalisation of €22.8 million.
Debt and Fund Listings
The number of debt tranches admitted to listing on the ISE in Q2 2012 was 631 [Q1 2012: 684].New fund securities admitted to the ISE’s markets amounted to 48 during the period [Q1 2012: 68].
At the end of Q2 2012, the number of funds and sub funds listed on the ISE was 2,812 [end 2011: 2,893] and tranches of debt securities amounted to 20,792 [end 2011: 21,142].
Note 1
If AIB and Irish Life and Permanent are excluded from the calculations, the market capitalisation of companies included in the ISEQ indices would have risen by 10.2% in the first half of 2012 to €55.75 billion at the end of June, an increase of 10.2% since the end of 2011 [Q1 2012: 14.2%].
Note 2
Exceptional turnover was experienced in Q1, following the NTMA’s bond exchange programme, which saw some 30% of investors in an existing 2014 Treasury Bond switch to a new 4.5% Treasury Bond maturing in February 2015.