KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Bursa Malaysia Bhd expects the initial public offerings (IPOs) to increase for financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18) from 13 last year, said Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan.
Tajuddin said the listings would mainly come from the Main Market and ACE Market while the LEAP Market aimed to gain traction this year.
“There are some registered interests in IPOs from big names. Suffice to say, the IPO pipeline is tracking quite well. I think we will announce as we go along,” he said at the announcement of the 2017 financial results here today.
In the financial year ended Dec 31, 2017, Bursa Malaysia attracted 13 new listings, raising a total of RM7.4 billion compared to RM0.6 billion in the previous financial year.
Tajuddin said the securities market segment was expected to remain resilient this year, given the recent economic data and equity market performance, strengthening of the ringgit and positive corporate developments.
Trading volatilities, however, may be influenced by local and external factors such as geopolitical developments and the tightening of monetary policies in major economies in 2018, he said.
“We anticipate that the momentum to continue this year. There are certain expectations for the market. We expect the market to remain resilient. Of course, there will be election factor that will increase volatility in the securities market,” he said.
Tajuddin said the derivatives market would be influenced by the volatility in the commodity prices and the FBM KLCI.
Bursa Malaysia, he said, planned to revamp the crude palm oil futures (FCPO) on the derivatives market.
He, however, did not elaborate further.
“We (also) are trying to understand some of the areas we are looking at. Some of the products, we will see how it can be done. We are still in the process of getting approvals or put things in place,” he said. — Bernama
