MILAN (AIMnews.it) - Twenty-six new listings, € 1.3 billion in funding, € 6.7 billion in capitalisation (+ 17% vs. 2017): these are the record numbers for AIM in 2018. This is what has emerged from the surveys of the AIM Italia Osservatorio relating to the 2018 IPOs. "2018 - comments Anna Lambiase, Chief Executive Officer of IR Top Consulting - represented a record year for AIM Italia and marked the highest number of quotations and capital raised since its birth, increasing the strategic role for supporting the growth path of Italian SMEs looking for capital, and for their development plans and internationalisation, also thanks to the tax credit on IPO costs introduced by the Government for the three years 2018-20. Lombardy was confirmed as the leading region for new IPOs in 2018 with a percentage of 62%, followed by Lazio, Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Tuscany, while among the sectors, in addition to the financial sector, industrial, technology and lifestyle, a total of 38% of new listings. The average AIM company identikit shows revenues of 40 million euros with an average IPO float of 22%. I believe that in 2019 we can continue the positive trend driven by a demand for quotations by SMEs, that is in significant growth, also thanks to the new Financial Law which introduced an investment obligation for RIPs in the measure of 3.5% of total assets on markets not regulated as AIM Italia. This measure could represent a real boost to the growth of the equity market at the service of real economy and businesses."