The first quarter of 2008 registered a healthy growth for the Malaysian capital market. The growth is supported by the increased number and value of private debt securities (PDS) and initial public offerings (IPOs) proposals approved between January to March this year.

The Securities Commission (SC) approved 28 PDS proposals valued at RM38.3 billion in the first quarter of 2008. This was double the value of PDS proposals approved in the first quarter of 2007.

Additionally, a total of 13 out of 15 IPO proposals considered were approved in the first quarter of 2008. Of the 13 proposals approved, six are slated for the Main Board, three for the Second Board and four for the MESDAQ Market.

There was a significant increase in IPO interest from large cap companies in the first quarter of this year. Of the six applications approved for the Main Board, five were by companies with market capitalisation of more than RM500 million each.

The SC maintained its strong performance standards with 98.7 percent of licensing applications and 96 percent corporate proposals processed within the time charters. A total of 1,958 applications were received for new licences and renewal of licences in the first quarter of 2008.

Capital market statistics released by the SC cover information on processing, approvals and rejections of submissions, including timing and reasons. In addition to these scorecard indicators, the quarterly statistics of submissions approved by the SC for the first quarter of 2008 were also reported.

The full series of capital market statistics released by the SC can be viewed here.