Business News Round Up (12/04/2021)
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Strongest UK first quarter IPO performance in 14 years – EY
UK listings experienced a strong start to the year, with more funds raised in the opening quarter of 2021 than in any other opening quarter since 2007 – and the most raised in a single quarter since 2014. According to EY analysis, both the main stock market and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) built on the resurgence of activity seen in the second half of 2020, with 12 initial public offerings (IPOs) raising £5.2bn on the main market and eight IPOs raising £441m on AIM. First quarter fundraising achieved a total of £5.6bn, more than half of the £9.4bn raised in the whole of 2020. Total funds raised in 2021’s first quarter were the largest of any opening quarter since the £5.8bn of new money raised in 2007 – and the most raised in any quarter since the £6.9bn raised in the second quarter of 2014. The performance during the first three months of 2021 is in stark contrast to the same period in 2020, when there were just three IPOs on the main market and two on AIM, which raised a combined total of £615m.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/strongest-uk-first-quarter-ipo-23885078
Scotland’s private sector economy returns to growth, but lockdown pressures remain
The seasonally adjusted Royal Bank of Scotland business activity index – a measure of combined manufacturing and service sector output – rose to 54.3 in March, up sharply from 44.1 in February, signalling the first upturn in output since last September. Any reading above 50 denotes expansion. Inflows of new work were broadly stable on the month as looser restrictions buoyed demand in some sectors, while hopes of a swift economic recovery pushed business confidence to the highest since mid-2012. However, some respondents noted that the remaining lockdown measures were still stifling sales in a number of sectors. Across the 12 monitored UK areas, all nine English regions and Wales posted growth, while Northern Ireland registered a modest decline.
Small business confidence rebounds as shops reopen in England and Wales
Almost six in 10 (58%) small businesses have said that they expect their performance to improve this quarter as Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown enters its next stage. The latest small business index study from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) revealed that the majority of firms are forecasting an increase in revenues, the highest proportion since the summer of 2015. While less than a third (31%) of small firms said they expected their performance to worsen in the next three months, fewer than one in four (24%) anticipate a fall in sales. The same figure stood at 84% at this time last year. The report, which surveyed almost 1,700 business owners, posted the highest reading since autumn 2014, when it hit a reading of 41. Its confidence measure rose to 27.3 during the first quarter of this year, up from -49.3 last quarter, and is in positive territory for the first time since the second quarter of 2018.
Recovery in North West business activity gathers pace in March
The recovery in business activity across the North West private sector gathered pace in March, with higher demand and growing optimism towards the outlook in turn leading to a rise in employment for the first time in more than a year, latest UK regional PMI data from NatWest showed. The headline North West Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – registered a reading of 56.5 in March, up from 50.3 in February. This showed output levels rising at a solid and accelerated rate, and one that was the quickest since September last year. Businesses in the North West reported a rise in inflows of new work for the first time in four months in March.