Stockholm shows London the way

The owner of the Swedish bourse, OM Gruppen, may have failed in its bid for the London Stock Exchange, but a new study published today reveals that Stockholm is beating London hands down when it comes to public offerings of technology, media and telecom (TMT) companies.

The owner of the Swedish bourse, OM Gruppen, may have failed in its bid for the London Stock Exchange, but a new study published today reveals that Stockholm is beating London hands down when it comes to public offerings of technology, media and telecom (TMT) companies.

Of the 46bn euros worth of TMT offerings that took place in Europe during the first nine months of the year, Sweden accounted for 22 per cent, while London was responsible for only 17 per cent. Both markets, however, were eclipsed by Frankfurt, which accounted for 74 flotations worth 13.7bn euros, giving the German bourse 30 per cent of the IPO market.

The research, carried out by the web-based consultancy Tornado-Insider, shows that despite turmoil this year in New Technology stocks, the aggregate gain on the 254 flotations tracked is 15 per cent. Investors who "flipped" the offerings, selling out on the first day's dealings, would have done even better, recording a 29 per cent gain.

The best-performing sector was hardware, with an average gain in stock valuations of 104 per cent. But internet stocks have accounted for the biggest chunk of activity, with 94 offerings worth 16bn euros. But internet stocks have also been the worst-performing sector, with an aggregate fall in value of 16 per cent.

Tornado-Insider said the best-performing stock is Biodata Information Technology, which makes communications equipment. Since going public on Frankfurt's Neuer Exchange in February, share values have risen by 611 per cent.

The worst-performing stock is the e-commerce and content provider ADVFN.com, which listed in London in March and has lost 85 per cent of its value.