Top upcoming UK IPOs of 2022

Top or flop: are these going to be among the top UK IPOs of 2022?

UK IPO watch

Huel will be one to watch for growth appetite – profits at £700k don’t exactly speak to a £1bn+ valuation so it would be a bellwether for the health and depth of the market to handle long-term super-growth stocks. Turnover in the year to July 2020 was £71.6m, up almost 50% from the year before.

The company has reportedly engaged JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs to work on plans for floating this year. Huel is a manufacturer of plant-based meal replacements – a growing corner of the food industry.

Likewise, Monzo could be an interesting one for the City; another big test for London in terms of tech and its ambitions to rival the Nasdaq. It is likely to enjoy some decent institutional and retail demand since its customer base here is good and young and the latest funding round was positive and suggests a valuation of around £3bn. The key focus for the business is expansion in the US and its new Monzo Flex product – a buy now, pay later service to take on the likes of Klarna. An IPO of rival UK digital bank Starling is said to be a year or two away, according to founder and CEO Anne Boden.

Virgin Atlantic is another very interesting floatation in the offing as it would come during what is still a pretty tough moment for airlines despite the recovery of sorts from the depths of March 2020. Airlines are such a tough long term investment call – just look at the IAG ‘performance’ of the last 30 years. Shares in airlines have also flattered to deceive in 2021 as fresh waves of the Covid 19 virus – particularly Delta and Omicron – hit shares that were looking prime for recovery. Virgin may decide the best course is to delay a bit to allow for the transatlantic market to recovery a bit but it’s also a good moment to source new funding for grabbing market share post-pandemic.

PureGym shelved plans for an IPO last year, instead preferring to secure £300m in private funding from KKR that valued the business at about £1.5bn. It’s unclear whether the company still plans to raise money via a stock marketing listing or if the funding will mean it stays private for a while longer. The pandemic hurt the business hard as it reported a £200m loss in 2020, but earnings are recovering and a big push into the US offers hopes for strong growth in the coming years.

How to trade IPOS

Once the company stock lists you can trade it like any other stock on the platform. Before that you choose from thousands of stocks with Markets.com.

1) If you’re already a client, login; if not already trading, register for an account and fund it first
2) Search for the stock you want to trade in the platform
3) Select your position (go long or short) and size, and consider stop and limit levels to manage risk
4) Place the trade

Alternatively, sometimes you can trade our Grey Market IPOs. For more on the different ways to trade IPOs, check our guide to IPO trading and our IPO explainer.