The amount of money raised from new stock market listings in London this year is thought to have dropped 60%, according to new data.
Estimates released by professional services firm PwC pointed to a slowdown in the initial public offerings (IPO) market, with the number of company flotations on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) dropping 35% in 2016, compared with a year earlier.
Overall, PwC data shows that the European IPO proceeds halved in 2016 to £23.9billion, while 34 flotations were withdrawn or postponed this year.
UK stock market listings have struggled to get off the ground since the Brexit vote, with TI Fluid Systems cancelling its IPO and waste management firm Biffa slashing the price of its flotation.
Fitness firm Pure Gym said market volatility was to blame when it scrapped plans for its stock market debut in October.
Software firm Misys pulled the plug on its flotation on similar grounds, citing “market conditions.”
However, London ranked as one of the top three exchanges in Europe for raising the most cash form IPOs.
Medical products firm ConvaTec – which was the largest UK flotation this year – raised proceeds of £1.4billion when it went public at the end of October.
Lucy Tarleton, capital markets director at PwC, said: “The ConvaTec IPO was not without its obstacles as there had to be a compromise on price to get a deal done – a recurring theme during the second half of 2016.
“Despite the lower level of IPO volumes in London in 2016, as with previous quarters, AIM has seen healthy activity levels, with a number of new companies set to join the market before the end of the year.”
London raise £5.4billion through 60 IPOs, compared with Sweden’s Nasdaq Nordic which raised £6.5billion across 60 IPOs and Germany’s Deutsche Borse which raised £4.2billion through 11 IPOs.
