The New Zealand Alternative Market (NZAX) has shown strong performance relative to the Unlisted market in 2006.
The NZAX Market was launched in November 2003 as a cost-effective environment for innovative enterprises to raise capital for growth. This was followed by the launch of the new “unregulated share trading platform” Unlisted in December 2003.
Listings and Capital Raised
Currently, the NZAX Market has 29 listed issuers and 34 securities listed. The Unlisted facility has 23 issuers and 26 securities quoted.
The NZAX has had eight initial public offerings (IPOs) raising $51.3 million, most recently Glass Earth Limited on 13 October. Unlisted is yet to run an IPO, an activity usually associated with regulated and registered stock exchanges. A proposed 2006 IPO has been postponed.
NZAX listed issuers have raised more than $154 million in capital in both initial public offerings and secondary capital raisings since the market launched. Total capital raised by Unlisted issuers since launch sits at $23.5 million.
Each year, one NZAX listed issuer has made the move from the NZAX to the NZSX Market. Three companies have withdrawn from Unlisted, and none have transferred to any of NZX's markets.
NZX Markets Development Manager, Geoff Brown said, “Investors are entitled to know what's going on in the companies they invest in. The regulated NZAX market makes this possible with its transparent continuous disclosure requirements.”
Trading and Liquidity
Over 22,000 trades have been executed on the NZAX Market since inception in November 2003. On 13 December 2006, Unlisted stated they have facilitated 3,867 trades since inception.
Trades of close to $160 million in value have been executed to date on the NZAX Market, compared with $56 million of value traded on Unlisted.
“NZX would like more companies to understand the benefits of the NZAX Market to raise capital, to trade and to grow. To date, the successes of the NZAX have not been obvious to the public and media in comparison with what they deem to be our competition, so we're taking the opportunity to highlight the comparative three-year performances of the two markets,” said Geoff Brown.
 |
Unlisted | ||
|---|---|---|---|
MARKET STATS |
Inception |
14 November 2003 |
13 December 2003 |
Companies listed at inception |
11 |
4 |
|
Companies listed at end of 2006 |
29 |
23 |
|
Securities quoted |
34 |
26 |
|
Companies delisted |
0 |
3 |
|
Companies using platform to move to new platform |
3: |
0 |
|
Market capitalisation |
$546 million |
$985 million |
|
TRADING STATS |
Trades since inception |
22,035 |
4,000 |
Value traded since inception |
$159,446,114 |
$56 million |
|
CAPITAL RAISING STATS |
Number of IPOs |
8 raising $51.3 million |
0 |
Secondary capital raisings |
$103 million |
$23.5 million |
|
Total capital raised since inception |
$154.3 million
|
$23.5 million |
Looking Forward
The NZAX is an ideal environment for innovative businesses seeking efficient means to raise capital for growth. NZX is running a series of seminars aimed at raising the profile of NZAX listed companies early next year, similar in format to the successful NZX SciTech seminars in August this year. The aim of these seminars will be to raise the profile of NZAX listed issuers and give potential listed issuers a chance to hear how the NZAX Market could work for them as a vehicle for growth. To find out more about the NZAX Market or upcoming NZAX seminars please contact Sara Velasquez on listings@nzx.com or (04) 496-2855.
