Press releases 2006

31 December 2006

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE LEADS GLOBAL IPO MARKET

Record year for money raising for both UK and international companies

Companies have raised a record £29.4 billion through IPOs on the London Stock Exchange’s markets during 2006, with IPO fundraising by companies up 81 per cent on 2005. By the end of December, the total money raised by IPOs on the London Stock Exchange had reached £29.4 billion. This exceeded the £20.0 billion raised during the same period through IPOs on NYSE and the £23.4 billion raised on the Hong Kong Exchange for the same period. In the period to the end of December 2006, £10.0 billion was raised through IPOs on Nasdaq.

The Exchange’s Main Market and AIM attracted IPOs from a total of 367 companies during 2006, exceeding the 332 IPOs carried out on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and Hong Kong Exchange combined and exceeding the 328 IPOs on the rest of Western Europe’s exchanges by 12 per cent.

During the year, the Exchange attracted 107 international IPOs from companies incorporated in 26 countries. Between them, these international companies raised £14.0 billion on the Exchange’s markets, of which £2.9 billion was raised on AIM.

Total money raised, which includes money raised through further issues, was similarly impressive during 2006. During the year, companies raised a record £52.0 billion in new and further issues, of which £36.3 billion was raised on the Main Market and Professional Securities Market, and £15.7 billion was raised on AIM.

Martin Graham, Director of Markets at the London Stock Exchange, said:

“2006 has been another immensely strong year for London’s primary markets, demonstrating that London has consolidated its position as the market of choice for international issuers.

“We’re very proud that companies from the UK and 26 countries around the world, from 36 sectors and with market capitalisations ranging from £5 billion to under £5 million, have been able to use our markets to access London’s deep pools of capital, and we look forward to helping more companies to fund the growth of their businesses next year.”

2006 Primary Market Highlights

Main Market and Professional Securities Market

• 116 companies joined the Main Market and Professional Securities Market in 2006, of which 89 were IPOs;
• Companies raised a total of £20.1 billion through IPOs on the Main Market and Professional Securities Market, 89 per cent more than the total raised during 2005;
• There were 30 international IPOs on the Main Market and Professional Securities Market during the year, raising £11.1 billion;
• In February, Lotte Shopping became the second Korean company to dual-list in London and Seoul, raising £1.6 billion;
• The first privatisation of a UK company through an IPO in over ten years took place in February, when the IPO of Qinetiq raised £150 million;
• Napo Pharmaceutical’s IPO in July was the first by any US company to take place solely on London’s Main Market, raising £9.5 million;
• MCB Bank issued Global Depositary Receipts on the Professional Securities Market in October, raising £79.1 million and becoming the first Pakistani company to join the Exchange’s markets.

AIM

• 462 companies joined AIM in 2006, raising a record £9.9 billion in new issues;
• Of these new issues, 278 were IPOs, raising a record total of £9.3 billion between them;
• 2006 was also a record year for international IPOs on AIM, with 77 international companies joining the market, raising £2.9 billion between them;
• 33 new companies based in Western Europe (excluding UK) joined AIM this year, raising just over £1 billion between them;
• 21 new companies based in the USA joined AIM this year, raising in excess of £563.1 million between them;
• During 2006 AIM welcomed 26 new companies based in China and seven companies based in India.

For further information, please contact:

Catherine Mattison Press Office +44 (0)20 7797 1222

newsroom@londonstockexchange.com

Statistical notes and references.

1. Unless otherwise stated, information in this release is based on the Exchange Group’s management estimates and calculations sourced from publicly available information, including Main Market and Secondary Market fact sheets and Professional Securities Market fact sheets, AIM Market Statistics, Monthly Market reports and the Exchange Group’s and its subsidiaries’ internal market and trading databases.

2. Except where stated, London Stock Exchange IPO figures include IPOs up to and including 18 December. Money raised figures for December IPOs are indicative. Total money raised figures (including both new and further issues) are estimates and based on previously published figures to the end of November and indicative figures for new issues from 1-18 December and exclude all December further issues.

3. Figures for money raised by IPOs for NYSE, Nasdaq and Hong Kong exchanges are sourced from the World Federation of Stock Exchanges website. IPO numbers for these exchanges are sourced from the websites of the relevant exchange. IPO Statistics for NYSE and Hong Kong are to the end of November.

4. The Nasdaq IPO money raised figure for 2006 calendar year is to the end of October. The November money raised figure is not yet available. The total number of IPOs on Nasdaq is to the end of November.

5. Money raised totals for other exchanges are converted into sterling using the average exchange rate for the period. Exchange rates are sourced from Thomson Financial.

6. ‘International’ companies refers to companies incorporated outside the UK.

7. Companies ‘based in’ refers to companies which are deemed to operate the majority of their business in a given country, but which may be incorporated elsewhere.