“Confirmation from commodities broker Marex Spectron that it will seek to list on the London Stock Exchange could be a good test of the current surge in raw materials prices,” says Russ Mould, AJ Bell Investment Director. “If anyone should know a good time to buy – or sell – it is surely a broker who is an expert in their field, so Marex’s move to give existing investors a chance to liquidate some of their investment now is intriguing.
Source: Refinitiv data
“Marex’s statement makes it clear that it does not rely on rising commodity prices to do well and that long-term organic growth opportunities, such as carbon credits and renewable energy, could be supplemented by acquisitions in what remains a fragmented market. The firm is profitable, growing and well-capitalised and expanding its customer base, as evidenced by the drop in the percentage contribution to revenue from the firm’s ten biggest clients.
“However, investors – and thus would-be buyers of the stock – could be forgiven for asking themselves whether the sellers may know anything they do not. After all, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase appears to have called the top in Bitcoin, at least in the short term.
Source: Refinitiv data
“Moreover, the last big commodity trader who came to market in London was Glencore. It did so in 2011 – barely a month after the Bloomberg Commodity index peaked that April at 513, a level to which it is yet to return.”
Source: Refinitiv data
