Asia's corporate listings mushrooming, says report

Asia's corporate listings mushrooming, says report

SINGAPORE (AFP): Corporate listings in eight core Asian
markets are expanding rapidly on a growing investor base and the
number of listed companies will reach up to 5,000 by the turn of
the century, a report released here said.

Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the
Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan together had 3,129 listed
companies as in June 1995, said the report by Salomon Brothers
Singapore Pte. Ltd.

Between 1989 and 1994, the number of listed companies in the
region increased 63 percent from 1,868 to 3,052. The growth rate
in the previous five-year period was 39 percent.

Thailand and Indonesia had the most explosive growth in
listings over the last five years -- 122 percent and 284 percent
respectively -- with Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan
also recording sharp increases.

"Investors now have more choices both within and across
markets than they had five years ago, and this is a trend that is
likely to continue," said Salomon Brothers.

"Even if the pace of new listings slows to more normal growth
rates that are in line with medium-term rates of gross domestic
product growth, these eight markets could have in the range of
4,500-5,000 listed companies by the year 2000," the investment
house said.

The proliferation of corporate listings was attributed to the
expansion of the investor base resulting from growth in regional
savings levels and per-capita incomes.

Also contributing were growing international interest in
investing in Asia, regulatory and structural changes which aided
the computerization of trading, improved settlement systems and
higher standards of disclosure, the report said.

The number of public companies in the region rose by 10
percent last year and by a further three percent in the first
half of 1995, to 3,129.

Indonesia

Indonesia set the pace in 1994 with a 27 percent increase,
with Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand posting "low to
mid-teen rates of growth," the Salomon Brothers report said.

"The key observation regarding these statistics is that number
of listings expanded during one of the worst years for the
markets in the last decade, which in turn underscores the
strength of the underlying trend toward broader and deeper
capital markets in the region," it said.

South Korea remains the largest market, with more than 700
listed companies, but its relative importance over the past five
years has slipped from more than one-third to less than one-
quarter of the regional total, the report said.

Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia all increased their relative
positions by more than three percent while Hong Kong, Singapore
and Taiwan had smaller increases of less than one percent.

"In effect, the regional pie in terms of listed companies is
now more evenly divided than it was five years ago," Salomon
Brothers said.

The expansion of corporate listings could lead to structural
market changes, the investment house said.

Companies would have to compete harder for recognition and
funding and in turn markets could be forced to become more
efficient in terms of transactions, financial reporting and
pricing, it added.