Canadian capital markets had a good year in 2011, says PwC, which is nonetheless warning 2012 might not be so rosy.
PwC’s December Capital Markets Flash report lists 20 reasons why Canada was a good place for investors in 2011.
“All things considered, 2011 was a stellar year for Canadian markets,” said Kristian Knibutat, PwC’s Canadian deals leader.
“This is notable, but it is critical to remember that there can be no ‘last one standing’ in a global economy. As go the big players, so goes Canada.”
Significant numbers included in the list include:
- zero – the number of bank failures in Canada in recent history, compared with 90 in the U.S. in 2011;
- 1 – Canada’s ranking on the World Economic Forum’s list of most sound banking systems in the world;
- 140% – the increase in Canadian lumber exports to China, mostly from B.C.;
- 142 – the number of Canadian private equity deals announced in the first three quarters of 2011;
- $47 billion – value of equity capital raised on the TSX and TSX-V year to date, an 8% increase over the same period last year;
- 45 – the number of corporate IPOs on the TSX-V year to date, a 22% increase over the same period in 2010;
- 9,500 – the number of mining projects held by companies listed on the TSX and TSX-V
(50% of which are outside of Canada);
- $6.4 billion – the value of commercial real estate acquisition by Canadians in the U.S.; and
- 1,170 kilometres – the length of the proposed pipeline from the oilsands of Alberta to Kitimat.
Despite Canada’s relative strength in 2011, the PwC cautions that Canada’s economic health in 2012 faces some external risks, including “developed world austerity.”
More than $2.5 billion worth of austerity measures may be needed to balance budgets in Europe and other developed countries – 20 times the inflation-adjusted cost of the Marshall Plan in Europe after the Second World War.
Slowing growth in emerging markets and “political intertia” with respect to tackling world economic challenges are also factors that could negatively affect Canada’s economics in 2012.
Nelson Bennett
@nbennett_biv