英国中小板市场遭遇“退市潮”（中英文）
上一篇 / 下一篇 2008-09-05 12:29:58 / 个人分类：融资动态
作者：英国《金融时报》戴维•布莱克维尔(David Blackwell)、菲利普•斯塔福德(Philip Stafford)
许多国际公司纷纷离开英国中小板市场，这不禁让人怀疑：伦敦另类投资市场(AIM)是否正逐渐丧失吸引力？
自今年4月以来，十多家公司要么已经退市，或准备退市，要么寻求去其它市场上市。
事实上，自该市场1995年成立以来，在此上市的公司数量首次出现下降。截至上周末，伦敦另类投资市场有1626家上市公司，而
上周，澳大利亚的E-Pay亚洲(e-Pay Asia)表示，将专注于在本国上市，之前，澳大利亚天山金田(TianShan Goldfields)、 加拿大March Networks和Medoro Resources以及美国Galapagos等公司也纷纷从伦敦另类投资市场退市，转回本国上市。
离开伦敦另类投资市场和爱尔兰交易所、转投美国上市的生物科技集团Amarin表示：“流动性一直非常有限，而且我们要保持纳斯达克(Nasdaq)以外的上市身份，其成本和行政负担相当大。”
Amarin和大多数即将退市的其它公司都规模极小，并且缺乏流动性。不过，其它统计数据给出了更严酷的解读。
今年迄今，通过新发行筹集的资金总量约为10亿英镑（合17亿美元），而去年同期则为47亿英镑。二级市场的融资金额为26亿英镑，大约减少了一半。
加拿大皇家银行资本市场(RBC Capital Markets)的安德鲁•史密斯(Andrew Smith)表示：“目前盛宴已散。”该公司专门协助自然资源类公司在中小板市场上市。
“这是一个小型股市场，因此流动性要差得多，但大家进入时就知道这些。目前陷于周期的这个阶段，既不是这个市场的错，也不是公司的错（如果它们继续运营良好）。”
随着数百家公司于2005年和2006年上市，伦敦另类投资市场似乎已成为金融城机构完全接受的市场。但随着去年底信贷危机的全面爆发，给公司上市踩下了“刹车”，至今年4月，上市数量已一落千丈。
数月后，帮助公司来此上市的保荐机构Arbuthnot的一项调查显示，机构投资者投资该市场的意愿已明显减弱。今年，只有38%的机构投资者准备加大对伦敦另类投资市场的投资，这一比例低于去年的47%和2006年的62%。缺乏机构资金已导致了恶性循环。一位经纪人表示，他有一批机构有兴趣买进的股票，但与机构打算出手的股票相比，少得微不足道。它们无从获取新资金，因此为了买进好的公司，它们首先得卖掉差公司的股票。
这表明伦敦另类投资市场的主要问题在于公司普遍市值小，缺乏流动性。在此上市的首批中国企业之一、混凝土泵专业制造商佳尔华(Jarlway)就是一个典型的例子。
长期关注伦敦另类投资市场的人，会记得伦敦证交所(London Stock Exchange)首席执行官克拉拉•弗斯(Clara Furse)曾将中国企业描述成“明天的橡树”。但结果佳尔华成了掉在石地上的橡果。
佳尔华2005年以每股30便士的价格募资125万英镑，但在当年晚些时候的两次评级下调后，一直未能恢复过来。周一，当该公司宣布准备退市时，其市值仅为31万英镑。
不过，另一家保荐机构Fairfax的亚当•哈特(Adam Hart)辩称，这并不是伦敦另类投资市场特有的问题，而是“全球中小板市场的问题”。
截至
如同对中小板市场的预期一样，其跌幅要高于主板市场同期内21%的跌幅，但并非太不同步。
哈特辩称，小公司更容易受到经济下滑的影响。它们来上市的首要原因就是募资。
在目前的环境下，它们可能仍然需要筹资，但这个市场已不再能够满足它们的需求，这就必然会导致一些公司退市
Companies start to lose interest in Aim
A number of international companies leaving the
Since April more than 10 companies have either cancelled their listing, intend to cancel or to seek a quotation on other markets.
Indeed, for the first time since its foundation in 1995 the number of companies listed on Aim is falling. By the end of last week there were 1,626 companies with an Aim quote, compared with 1,694 on January 1.
Last week
Amarin, a biotechnology group that left Aim and the Irish exchange in favour of the
Amarin and most of the other companies that are leaving are tiny and illiquid. However, other statistics make grimmer reading.
The amount of money raised from new issues so far this year is about £1bn ($1.7bn), compared with £4.7bn after the same period last year. Secondary fund raising, at £2.6bn, is down by almost a half.
“The party is over for now,” says Andrew Smith of RBC Capital Markets, which specialises in natural resources companies on the junior market.
“It's a small cap market, and therefore much less liquid, but people knew that when they came in. It's the fault of neither the market nor the companies – if they continue to deliver – that the cycle is where it is.”
As several hundred companies floated in 2005 and 2006, it looked as though Aim had become a perfectly acceptable market to City institutions. But as the credit crunch took hold at the end of last year the brakes went on, and by April this year the listing figures had fallen off a cliff.
A couple of months later a survey by Arbuthnot, a “nomad” or nominated adviser that brings companies to the market, showed that institutional investors' willingness to invest in Aim had fallen sharply. Only 38 per cent intended to invest more in Aim this year, down from 47 per cent in 2007 and 62 per cent in 2006. The lack of institutional money has led to a vicious cycle. One broker says he has a list of shares that institutions were interested in buying, but it was dwarfed by the list of shares they wanted to sell. There was no new money available, so in order to buy into good companies, they first had to sell the bad.
That suggests that the main problem of Aim is the long tail of companies with small market capitalisations and no liquidity. Jarlway, the concrete pump specialist that was one of the first Chinese companies to join, is a classic example.
Long-term followers of Aim will recall Clara Furse, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, describing Chinese companies as “tomorrow's oak trees”. But Jarlway proved to be an acorn that fell on stony ground.
It raised just £
However, Adam Hart of Fairfax, another nominated adviser, argues that this is not an Aim-specific problem but “an issue for small caps all over the world”.
Aim's aggregate market capitalisation fell by 27 per cent to £79bn in the year to July 31.
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