Europe's busiest stock market: 37 billion reasons why London is still at the top in the City in 2018

  • More than 600 firms raised a total of £37billion in the City this year 
  • Frankfurt, London's main Continental rival, raised £25.9billion in comparison
  • This year, 19 tech firms floated in the City – the most in five years

By James Burton For The Daily Mail

Updated:

London has retained its crown as Europe’s busiest stock market – with more than 600 firms raising a total of £37billion in the City this year.

It puts the London Stock Exchange far ahead of Frankfurt, its main Continental rival, which raised just £25.9billion.

The activity included 79 companies that floated in London, raising £9.6billion between them. 

The rest were mostly businesses returning to the market for more cash.

Top: The London Stock Exchange raised a total of £37billion, making it Europe's busiest market

Top: The London Stock Exchange raised a total of £37billion, making it Europe's busiest market

There were also 21 floats by foreign businesses – three times as many as the closest European competitor.

In a boost for those hoping that London can rival US markets for internet companies, 19 tech firms floated in the City – the most in five years.

Antivirus software firm Avast, which floated for £601million, was the fifth largest tech listing in City history. 

The fundraising haul came despite rocky international markets and fears that the Britain may quit of the EU without a Brexit deal.

Nikhil Rathi, head of the LSE, said: ‘Despite global macro-economic uncertainty, London remains underpinned by a strong track record of innovation and an international outlook.

‘We have listed over three times more international companies than any other European exchange this year.

‘More capital was raised through investors returning to market after initial listing than on any other European exchange, highlighting long-term confidence. London has always been a leading international market.’

Three of the five biggest flotations were foreign firms, led by the £603million Moroccan company Vivo Energy. 

The privatisations of Slovenian lender Nova Ljubljanska Banka and Kazakh miner Kazatomprom, carried out jointly through London and their home stock exchanges, raised £583million and £349million respectively.

The AIM junior stock market continues to be Europe’s top destination for fast-growing firms looking to go public. 

It was responsible for 59 per cent of the finance handed to growth firms in Europe, with £5.5billion raised in 398 separate deals.

It comes as stock markets end 2018 on a sour note.

The FTSE 100 index of blue-chip firms is down almost 12 per cent this year due to fears over Brexit and global growth. 

In America, the Dow Jones has dropped almost 7 per cent as investors fret over rising interest rates, a trade war with China and warning signs of an economic downturn.

 

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

Most watched Money videos

Comments 3

Share what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.