London - Funding for initial public offerings on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) soared by nearly 600% in 2010 compared with the previous year, it said on Wednesday.
The IPOs, including from India's Essar Energy and African Barrick Gold, raised a total of £10.1bn. That compared with just £1.5bn in 2009, the LSE said.
"The total money raised by IPOs during the year reached £10.1bn, a 573% increase on 2009, with the number of IPOs joining the Exchange's markets more than quadrupling" to 89 from 22, the LSE added.
The Exchange runs a number of equity markets in the British capital including the benchmark FTSE 100 index.
"Whilst last year our markets supported a significant amount of fundraising through further issues, 2010 injected some very positive signs of life into the new issues market, including a number of major wins for London," said Tracey Pierce, a director at the LSE.