(2 April 2008 – Australia) The investment banking market in Australia has fallen in the first quarter of 2008, with total fees dropping by 25 percent.Thomson Financial data has shown that in the first three months of 2008, $US386.3 million from 518 deals. In the same period in 2007, the figures were $US515 million from 752 deals.
This means that while fees fell a considerable 25 percent, the number of deals done fell by over 30 percent.
This suggests nervousness on the part of constituents of smaller deals due to the global credit crisis and current stock market volatility.
Of the current fees earned, 71 percent were from M&A activity, while share sales and placements contributed about 15 percent.
The top two banks were UBS and Citigroup, with $US48.8 million and $US27.7 million respectively.
The mining sector was the most active, generating $US119.2 million in fees from 139 deals, or about 31 percent of the total fees.