Hurray! All the signs are that 2025 could prove to be a cracking year for the UK’s struggling stock markets. Two companies have already listed on the main London Stock Exchange (LSE), while five new entrants have joined AIM, the junior growth market.
That’s the same number that joined in the whole of last year, and another two are in the pipeline.
As well as Shein, the Chinese fast fashion retailer, there are another dozen or so high-profile names, such as Waterstones, Monzo, Starling and Shawbrook, that have expressed serious interest in listing on the LSE.
They may not all be household names, but several others – a big number coming from the UK’s strong fintech sector – include Ebury, a payments system operator; Canopius, the Lloyd’s insurance group; Zilch, a buy now, pay later company; and Metlen Energy & Metals.
If these IPOs come off, this would indicate a significant shift in the LSE’s attractiveness after years in the doldrums.
Last year, only 18 companies came onto the market, the lowest for 15 years, sending London to 20th position in Bloomberg’s recent global listings report.
Bouncing back? Two companies have already listed on the main London Stock Exchange in 2025 while five new entrants have joined AIM, the junior growth market
Further proof of the LSE’s reputation for deep, liquid markets came with the placing yesterday of the 7 per cent stake held in Haleon, the FTSE 100 consumer healthcare giant, by Pfizer.
With great ease, the US pharma group raised £2.4billion by placing 618m shares at 385p – a discount to the 391p closing price of the shares – to a number of big institutions. Haleon’s shares, which are well above its listing price of 330p, rose 0.7 per cent, or 2.9p, to 394p.
This means the maker of Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers, which was a joint venture between Pfizer, and GSK, is now free of both former parents after GSK sold its last shares last year.
In another positive twist for the LSE’s amour-propre, Rio Tinto is again urging shareholders to vote against a resolution from hedge fund Palliser Capital to review the mining giant’s dual listing in London and Sydney.
Not only does Rio call the plan ‘value destructive’, but it describes Palliser’s criticism that £40billion could be added to the miners’ value by quitting London as ‘unfounded and misleading’.
That’s what we like to hear!
As a regular critic of the LSE’s recent performance, it’s only fair to say, ‘Hats off!’, and to give credit where credit is due.
Exchange chief executive Julia Hoggett and her team are clearly doing something right in making London’s capital markets more enticing for corporates in a fiercely competitive environment despite the many problems.
It may be too early to hail a turnaround but, as with most things in life, confidence breeds confidence.
Be bold and cut
The US Federal Reserve has spoken. The interest-rate setting central bank is likely to keep rates on hold for some time.
The Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank have also held rates.
Unusually, the Bank of England is the one central bank that may have the best reasons to take a different path and cut rates, when the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announces its decision today.
At its last meeting, the nine members voted by 7 to 2 to reduce the base rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.5 per cent.
And two members wanted a cut of 0.5 percentage points. There are many reasons why members might trim again.
As the Bank’s economic downgrade has shown, the economy is in a rut.
And the rut is getting deeper and deeper: the manufacturing sector has just had the worst start of the year for more than a decade with companies cutting investment and jobs as they prepare for April’s tax onslaught.
Insolvencies are on the rise, shops are closing. Households are holding on to any money they might have ahead of next month’s hike in utility bills.
So there is much for the MPC to chew on. Will tariffs push up prices? Or will they be a drag on growth?
And if members vote for a cut ahead of next week’s Spring Statement, will it be seen as a political move?
More pertinently – just how close are we to a recession?
That’s the critical question and why the MPC should go against the grain and vote for a cut.
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