Seoul IPO, corporate debt sales hit year high

Companies' first sale of stocks, or initial public offering (IPO) and corporate debt sales in South Korea recorded the highest this year in July, leading to a more than 30 per cent rise in direct corporate financing, financial watchdog data showed on Thursday. Direct corporate financing, including sales of stocks and bonds, was 11.97 billion US dollars in July, up 31.4 per cent from a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Rights offering, or sales of listed stocks, stood at 723.1 billion won last month, and the IPO numbered eight worth 122.9 billion won, the highest monthly figure this year, according to a news agency.