KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s initial public offering (IPO) market remained active last year, led by quality issuers that sustained or exceeded their market capitalisation upon listing, supported by active investor participation, according to Deloitte.

       In its South-East Asia IPO Capital Market 2023 Full Year Report, the professional services firm said Malaysia’s IPO market had remained vibrant with 32 listings in 2023 compared to 35 in 2022, while the IPO amount raised held steady at US$790mil (RM3.73bil) and the IPO market capitalisation saw an increase of 18% to US$2.99bil.

       “Generally, the total amount of funds raised remained above pre-Covid-19 levels, despite normalisation of interest rates and a rather downbeat economic outlook at the start of the year,” it said.

       Deloitte Malaysia’s disruptive events advisory leader, Wong Kar Choon, said the listing requirements for the ACE Market are more accommodating towards companies with good growth propositions, and the lower ticket size of IPO offer shares continues to attract a steady flow of investor participation.

       “We observed that, generally, IPOs with reasonable valuations generated strong interest from the market, and a good majority continue to demonstrate decent post-IPO share price performance.

       “The capital market initiatives that have been announced have also boosted market vibrancy and enhanced investors’ access to the market.

       “A formidable IPO pipeline is expected in 2024, buoyed by a healthy institutional and retail appetite, especially for consumer and tech or tech-related industries,” he said.

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       The report stated that IPO capital markets across South-East Asia saw 163 IPOs last year, which raised US$5.8bil in funds and US$41.7bil in market capitalisation in 2023. — Bernama