Via reuters.com
Singapore Exchange posts record revenue as 21 IPOs raise $3.2 billion
A sweeping package of government reforms turned SGX's IPO drought into a flood, and the exchange is now eyeing digital asset infrastructure as its next frontier.
A year ago, Singapore’s stock exchange was the financial equivalent of a ghost town. Six IPOs raised a grand total of S$25 million, the kind of number that makes listing fees look like a rounding error. Fast forward to FY2026, and SGX just posted its best revenue year since the turn of the millennium.
The Singapore Exchange reported net revenue of approximately S$1.5 billion, roughly $1.17 billion, marking a 14% jump from the prior year. Net profits climbed 24.6%. And the IPO market, the part of the business that had been flatlined for years, came roaring back with 21 new listings that collectively raised S$4.1 billion, or about $3.2 billion.
How Singapore bought its own recovery
This turnaround did not happen organically. Singapore’s government essentially decided to brute-force its capital markets back to life in 2025 with a package of reforms that included tax rebates for newly listed companies and a direct government injection of S$1.5 billion into the local equity market.
The contrast with the previous year is almost comical. Going from six listings raising S$25 million to 21 listings raising S$4.1 billion is not incremental improvement. That is a 164x increase in capital raised through IPOs.
SGX also introduced Singapore Depository Receipts in July 2026, allowing local investors to trade fractional interests in US-listed companies including Grab, Sea, and even SpaceX.
The digital asset angle
SGX operates a digital-assets register designed for tokenized security instruments, positioning itself at the intersection of traditional finance and blockchain-based infrastructure.
What this means for investors
Analysts have suggested that if current market conditions hold, SGX could see up to 30 IPOs in 2026 alone.
The risk, as always, is sustainability. Government-funded market injections can juice short-term numbers, but they do not guarantee long-term organic growth. If the S$1.5 billion injection dries up without being replaced by genuine institutional and retail capital flows, the IPO boom could prove temporary.