Dubai: Middle Eastern investment banking fees reached $480.5 million (Dh1.76 billion) during first nine months of the year, down 22 per cent on the same period last year and the lowest first-nine-month total since 2012, according to estimates from Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting.
Not one investment banking component saw year-over-year percentage gains during the first nine months of 2015, with equity capital markets underwriting declining 3 per cent compared to last year.
Fees from completed M&A transactions totalled $177.6 million, a 1 per cent decline from the first nine months of 2014, and accounting for 37 per cent of the overall Middle Eastern investment banking fee pool, the highest first nine month share since records began in 1980.
Despite the overall decline in investment banking fees, the total value of M&A transactions improved during the first nine months of the year.
“The value of announced Mergers and Acquisitions [M&A] transactions with any Middle Eastern involvement reached $33.7 billion during the first nine months of 2015, 23 per cent more than the value registered during the same period in 2014 and marking the best annual start since 2010,” said Nadim Najjar, managing director for the Mena region at Thomson Reuters.
Syndicated lending fees totalled $174.4 million, down 36 per cent from the first nine months of 2014, while fees from debt capital markets underwriting declined 42 per cent year-on-year to $47.8 million.
“Middle Eastern equity and equity-related issuance totalled $2.6 billion during the third quarter of 2015, a slight decline from the second quarter of this year. Middle Eastern debt issuance reached $16.1 billion during the third quarter of 2015, more than double the value raised during the previous quarter,” said Najjar.
HSBC earned the most investment banking fees in the Middle East during the first nine months of 2015, a total of $53 million for a 11 per cent share of the total fee pool.
HSBC topped both the completed M&A and the equity capital markets (ECM) underwriting fee rankings, while Nomura was first for debt capital market (DCM) underwriting. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group took the top spot in the Middle Eastern syndicated loans fee ranking.
In ECM, ten initial public offerings raised $2.5 billion and accounted for 45 per cent of first-nine-month activity in the region. Follow-on and convertible offerings accounted for 15 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively.
Debt issuance reached $16.1 billion during the third quarter of 2015, more than double the value raised during the previous quarter. Despite the quarterly increase, bond issuance in the region decreased 27 per cent from last year to $24.4 billion during the first nine months of 2015, marking the lowest first-nine-month total since 2011.
