Middle Eastern investment banking fees reached $416.8 million during the first half of 2016, an 8 percent increase compared to fees recorded during the first six months of 2015, according to estimates from Thomson Reuters/Freeman Consulting.
The figures in the quarterly investment banking analysis represent the strongest period for investment banking fees in the region since 2014.
Fees from completed M&A transactions totalled $104.0 million during the first half of 2016, a 24 percent decrease compared to a year ago and the slowest first half for M&A fees since 2012.
Syndicated Lending fees accounted for just over 55 percent of the overall Middle Eastern investment banking fee pool, the highest first half share since 2002.
Equity capital markets underwriting declined 77 percent compared to last year, while debt capital markets fees totalled $63.7 million, up 48 percent from 2015.
Fees from combined debt and equity capital markets underwriting accounted for 30 percent of the overall fee pool in the region during the second quarter of 2016, up significantly from the 6 percent recorded during the first quarter of the year.
Powered by M&A and DCM fees, JP Morgan earned the most investment banking fees in the Middle East during the first half of 2016, a total of $20.6 million.
Rothschild topped the completed M&A fee rankings with 19.7 percent of advisory fees, while HSBC was first for DCM underwriting, up from second place a year ago. ECM underwriting was lead by Emirates NBD with $4.4 million in ECM fees while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group took the top spot in the Middle Eastern syndicated loans fee ranking with $12.8 million in fees.
Nadim Najjar, managing director, MENA, Thomson Reuters, said: “The value of announced M&A transactions with any Middle Eastern involvement reached $18.7 billion during the first half of 2016, a decline of 29 percent compared to the first half of 2015 and the slowest first six months for deal making in the region since 2014.”
“Middle Eastern equity and equity-related issuance totalled $1.1 billion during the first half of 2016, an 80 percent decline from the first half of 2015 and the slowest opening six-month period for equity capital markets issuance since 2004.
“Bolstered by a record-breaking second quarter, Middle Eastern debt issuance reached $32.9 billion during the first half of 2016, a 45 percent increase compared to the value raised during the first half of 2015 and the strongest first half for DCM issuance since records began in 1980,” he added.
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