Corporate fundraising cooled sharply in the first half of 2022 as a storm blowing across financial markets left bankers and corporate finance chiefs wary of issuing of issuing new stocks and debt.
Businesses globally raised $4.9tn through new bonds, loans and equity in the first half of 2022, down 25 per cent from the $6.6tn raised in the first half of 2021 — a record-setting period, according to data provider Refinitiv.
The chill in capital markets underscores a powerful shift from exuberance to trepidation this year as central banks aggressively tighten monetary policy to temper persistently hot inflation. Supply-chain disruptions stemming from lockdowns in China compounded those pressures, as did Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — squeezing commodity stockpiles and pushing oil prices higher.