Capital Issuance - December 2023

Key points

• Net issuance was -£6.7 billion in December, compared to £10.4 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £4.0 billion (Chart 1).
• By instrument, bonds saw the largest decrease in net issuance as it fell to -£2.8 billion in December, compared to £12.4 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £4.6 billion (Chart 4).
• The fall in net bond issuance was driven by decreases in issuance of £8.7 billion and £5.8 billion by the MFI and OFC sectors respectively.
• Annual net issuance was £37.4 billion in 2023, £56.4 billion higher than in 2022 and £4.1 billion higher than the previous four-year average (Chart 3).

In addition to the summary statistics contained within this release and the associated tables, the Bank publishes a number of more granular series; please see our Bankstats tables (E3.1) and the full list of series and interactive charts.

All sectors

• Gross capital issuance by UK residents was £30.7 billion in December, compared to £59.0 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £54.7 billion (Chart 1).
• Net issuance was -£6.7 billion in December, compared to £10.4 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £4.0 billion (Chart 1).
• Annual gross issuance in 2023 was £632.5 billion, £157.3 billion higher than in 2022 and £138.8 billion higher than the previous four-year average (Chart 2).
• Specifically commercial paper gross issuance is at its highest since 2008 60% higher than the previous year’s issuance of £207.2 billion.
• Annual net issuance in 2023 was £37.4 billion, £56.4 billion higher than in 2022 and £4.1 billion higher than the previous four-year average (Chart 3).

Bond issuance

• Gross bond issuance was £15.3 billion in December, compared to £30.0 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £24.2 billion (Chart 4).
• Net bond issuance was -£2.8 billion in December, compared to £12.4 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £4.6 billion (Chart 4).
• The fall in net issuance was driven by a combined decrease in issuance of £14.6 billion by the MFI and OFC sectors.

Commercial paper issuance

• Gross commercial paper issuance was £15.0 billion in December, compared to £27.7 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £29.9 billion (Chart 5).
• Net commercial paper issuance was -£2.1 billion in December, compared to -£0.4 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £2.0 billion (Chart 5).
• The decrease in net issuance was driven by a fall in issuance of £12.7 billion across all sectors, which more than offset the combined decrease in repayments of £10.6 billion across the MFI and OFC sectors.

Equity issuance

• Gross equity issuance was £0.4 billion in December, compared to £1.3 billion in November and the previous six-month average of £0.7 billion (Chart 6).
• Net equity issuance was -£1.9 billion in December, compared to -£1.6 billion in November and the previous six-month average of -£2.7 billion (Chart 6).
• The decline in net issuance was driven by a decrease in issuance of £0.9 billion by the PNFC sector.

Note:

• PNFC bond repayment data for November 2023 has been revised due to a reclassification of an issuer from non-resident to resident. The amount involved is less than £1.0 billion.

Key:

• PNFC = Private non-financial corporations
• MFI = Monetary financial institutions
• OFC = Other financial corporations
• “Other sectors” contains public corporations and non-profit institutions serving households
• CP = Commercial paper

Queries

If you have any comments or queries with regard to this release please email DSDSecurities@bankofengland.co.uk.

Next release date: 27 February 2024