By STEPHEN GROCER at The Wall Street Journal
The volatility that hit markets in the first part of the year has weighed heavily on investment banks, whose fees were down 36% in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier, WSJ’s MoneyBeat reports.
- $12.8 billionInvestment-banking revenueSo far this year, the lowest quarterly total since the height of the financial crisis
- $2.3 billionFees from equity offeringsA drop of 55% from the same period last year
Markets tumbled to start the year as investors fled risky assets, such as equity and high-yield bonds. The value of equity and high-yield bonds coming to market globally this quarter is down 46% and 68%, respectively. IPO volumes tumbled 74% world-wide, according to Dealogic.
Fees from selling debt this year sit at $4.1 billion, down 32% from the first quarter of last year. The slide was driven by a 70% tumble in revenue from selling junk bonds, according to Dealogic. The one bright spot came from China, where revenue from debt offerings reached $615 million this quarter, up 79%, according to Dealogic.
