Twice as many firms in China are eager to list on the stock market now compared to a year ago as rising Asian share prices rebuild confidence among businesses, the head of JPMorgan's arm in China said Saturday.
Fang Fang, chief executive officer for JPMorgan China, said companies were mulling an array of fundraising plans from initial public offerings (IPO) to sales of high-grade and high-yield bonds.
"Companies are all very tempted to come to the market now," Fang said in an interview in Beijing. "As we stand, the IPO pipeline today is almost double the pipeline we had at this time last year."
Steelier risk appetites from companies allowed JPMorgan to handle more bond deals in China in January and February than the first six months of last year combined, said Fang, who is also the vice chairman for JPMorgan Asia.
Choppy financial markets had dented banks' profits last year as bankers struggled with trading losses and falling investing and lending activities. Goldman Sachs' Asian arm, for instance, swung into a loss in 2011 from a year-ago profit.
Fang declined to reveal how much money JPMorgan would like to earn from China this year.
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