Spanish companies increased the volume of financing they raised in the markets by 6% during the first half of 2025, reaching 16 billion eurosDespite a “significant decline” in IPOs and capital raisings, it said … The eighth edition of the “Capital Markets Association Key Performance Indicators” report was presented on Wednesday by the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME).
The report confirms that in that period, non-financial companies clearly preferred debt issuances over raising capital, while the issuance of investment grade bonds grew by 3%, reaching 10.8 billion euros, the highest level recorded in recent years, while high-yield bonds rose by 42%, to 4,000 million euros. Millions.
in contrast, The value of public offerings (IPOs) fell by 49% during the quarterTo 800 million euros, capital increases were reduced by 31% to 400 million.
“The report shows positive signs regarding access to capital for Spanish companies, which are increasingly turning to the debt market, but it also highlights the stock market stagnation and the need to strengthen equity financing,” said Adam Farkas, Executive Director of AFME. “Spain needs to continue moving towards an integrated capital market union,” he stressed.
Farkas also noted the importance of regulatory simplification: “It will also be crucial to ensure that the European regulatory framework is clear and flexible. “Reducing unnecessary complexity and associated costs can foster investment and innovation, enhance competitiveness and help mobilize private capital so that UMCE can fully achieve its goals.”
As he argued, reducing regulatory complexity would allow public and private capital to be channeled, improve market liquidity and help European companies grow and compete on a global scale.
The report also reflected that Spanish companies continue to obtain only 7% of their financing through the market – a stable percentage compared to 2024 -, Clearly below the EU average (13%)The United Kingdom (29.8%) and the United States (29.8%).
In terms of sustainable financing, Spain was the sixth largest issuer of ESG bonds in the EU in the first half, although the total volume fell by 12% year-on-year, to €9.5 billion.
The decline was concentrated in green bonds (-40%) Social bonds, which were practically fully diluted, while sustainable bonds rose by 181%. Along these lines, only 4.9% of bonds issued in Spain are rated ESG, which contrasts with the European average of 10.7%.
The document also highlighted the increase in risk capital allocated to SMEs, which represents 1.7% of total investment, compared to 0.4% in the same period of the previous year. That is, its importance has tripled. However, it confirms that the EU is still far behind other regions on this matter.
The association also noted that European “start-ups” (“start-ups” valued at more than €1,000 million) are turning less and less to the stock market; In fact, they have encrypted it Only 5% of those that debuted in 2021 would have made their stock market debut by 2025. This compares to 70% of those who did so between 2016 and 2020.
Regarding the “fintech” ecosystem, Spain ranked 15th in the EU, with improvements in mergers and acquisitions – which grew by 201%, i.e. they tripled – and in the number of divestments or “exits” (+47%), despite a 10% decrease in investment and a 2% decrease in registered patents.
The report also recorded an increase in loan transfers to capital markets, which amounted to 2.8% of the total, which is higher than the European average.
next to, Spain has established itself as the fourth EU country in terms of the number of long-term European investment funds (ELTIFs, their abbreviation in English), with 77 such instruments registered.
On the other hand, Spanish households maintained a low level of investment in capital markets, equivalent to 66% of GDP, compared to an average of 94% in the EU, while Spain, in terms of competitiveness, ranked 14th, with low liquidity and sustainable financing, despite improvements in access to corporate credit and the quality of the “fintech” ecosystem.